For the Buckinghamshire Food Partnership we are always wanting to help support and promote different projects and schemes happening across the county.
Of course, you are also very welcome to have your say and input on a local level at one of our Local Food Groups or maybe you are passionate about something specific and would like to attend an action group. We love to hear people’s ideas, listen about your projects or join together in partnership to start a new scheme or approach.
Should you be interested in volunteering at a Community Garden, helping with a Community Orchard or other growing based initiative then check out www.goodtogrow.org and use the map to locate projects near where you live or work and get in touch.
For those of you who have allotments or vegetable gardens or bountiful fruit trees or bushes, the www.growtogive.co.uk scheme is about linking up growers with foodbanks or community fridges; so that less is wasted and more can be shared with those in need.
Have you heard of the Gleaning Network?
In Buckinghamshire we have been gleaning since 2019 with teams of volunteers going into farms who have surplus that would otherwise go to waste. We donate the harvest to food banks as well as find other create ways to use it. Whether that’s community meals, cooking classes or preserving. If you would like to get involved and not afraid to get stuck in then contact Charmaine at www.khepera.org.uk/community-projects
Urban Harvest is a little like backyard gleaning or foraging where there is an untapped abundance of fruit, berries or nuts in the wild or public spaces. It can also be where someone with private land asks a team of volunteers to help collect surplus from fruit trees in their gardens and would like it to be donated to a good cause rather than let it go to waste. In Bucks, Urban harvest is coordinated by the team at Grow Together Bucks CIC who can be contacted at www.growtogetherbucks.co.uk
You can also help them to map fruits, berries and nuts or any other edible tree or plant on their Urban Harvest map by sending them online coordinates from Google maps by email.
Check out the map at https://www.growtogetherbucks.co.uk/urban-harvest
Like everything at the One Can Trust, their Street Heroes initiative is all about community. Where Street Heroes coordinate local collections to those in need. The collection point could simply be a box in your garden, or you might want to put up a gazebo too. Do whatever works for you, but it doesn’t have to be complicated or time-consuming. Rally round your neighbours and ask them to donate what they can for the Foodbank contact Jo Belshaw office@onecantrust.org.uk to let them know that you would like to offer your support.