To create the island’s largest and most inclusive community smallholding, providing a blueprint for social and therapeutic horticulture and sustainable food production.
According to the Jersey Statistics Unit, approximately 26% of all households and 23% of individuals are in relative low income, including over half of single parent families. This has a direct impact on the affordability of fresh fruit and vegetables which in turn leads to poor physical health, obesity and low self-esteem which can lead to various downstream issues later in life.
According to the Government’s ‘2021 People and Young Peoples’ Survey’, around 30% of children eat at least 5 portions of fruit and veg a day. Fee paying pupils and those with high self-esteem were more likely to eat their five a day.
Access to nutritional food is the bedrock of better health and wellbeing but with the cost of food increasing significantly, many islanders do not have access to their recommended amount of fruit and vegetables. Islanders should have access to low cost, locally sourced food that has a positive impact on the environment.
In addition to this, islanders who are combatting issues like loneliness and isolation need more community spaces to meet new people and be active.
In a report published by the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES), nature is declining globally at rates unprecedented in human history. The report tells us that its not too late to make a difference, but only if we start now at every level from local to global. Islanders are part of the local solution, especially if we manage land, from window boxes to gardens to farms, in a manner that supports biodiversity and counters the effects of climate change.
Thrive’s strategy is to address as many issues as possible in a joined-up way. GROW Jersey is one such community project in which we tackle issues such as nutritional poverty, loneliness and isolation, low mood and ill mental health, drastic biodiversity loss, climate change, food waste and more through a number of partnerships and hard work.
As with all Thrive projects, we believe that the best way to resolve our community’s social issues must start from within the community itself – with GROW, our first site measures 13 vergees, large enough to make a bold statement and a significant contribution towards reducing the deficit. Our aim is also to inspire change and to change mindsets in order for more islanders to start their own similar initiatives, thereby increasing the overall benefit.
GROW has enjoyed significant success in its first year of operation. Our strategy demonstrates that within the confines of one field it is possible to design and manage a community-led operation which delivers a sustainable and diverse variety of nutritional foods, grown regeneratively in a way that also supports local biodiversity. All delivered in a way that fosters a sense of community, helping to combat loneliness and isolation.
GROW aims to deliver a large amount of fruit and veg each year, the majority of which will be gifted to those who need it on the island to help combat issues around nutritional poverty. With unhealthy food being so cheap and accessible, we want to be able to provide a free source for a healthy and sustainable food. GROW also aims to be an educational resource to teach the community on how to ‘grow your own’ as well as providing education around food waste, composting, and preserving techniques to encourage low carbon lifestyles within the wider community.
GROW also has a comprehensive biodiversity monitoring programme, which will track the impact the farming model has on the local environment, with the aim of improving biodiversity over time.
As well as being a sustainable food source, GROW is a community location that provides a safe place to meet people, educate adults and students and show the rewards of growing healthy and locally sources food, all within a conservation backdrop that preserves the local ecosystems we depend upon.
• 2021 ICCI Conservation Awards – Peoples’ Choice – Winner
• 2021 ICCI Conservation Awards – Environmental Award – Runner Up
• 2021 Jersey in Bloom – Mike Stentiford Gold Award for Best Conservation Project
• 2021 Royal Horticultural Society Community Award
Every Wednesday, 5:30pm - 7pm
In case the pop by volunteer opportunities don’t suit, or there isn’t an option for the project of your choice please get in touch with us below, and we’ll be happy to discuss how you can get involved
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