Growing Communities seeks social entrepreneurs
By Laura Whitehead 15th May 2012
Free introductory workshop being held in Hackney, East London UK on 4th July.
Are you fed up with the supermarkets dominating our food system? Do you want to help the environment by changing how and what we eat? Would you like to create jobs for local people?
Growing Communities are looking for people who are interested in setting up a not-for-profit business to bring more sustainable food to their community and will be holding a workshop on the 4th July to explain how to get involved.
Growing Communities has been running a successful community-led organic box scheme in Hackney, East London, for 18 years. Their model offers farmers a fair price and a guaranteed market by harnessing the buying power of communities and directing it towards those local farmers who are growing food in sustainable ways. They have launched a Start-Up Programme to enable other local groups to set up box schemes in their area and use community-led trade to help change the current damaging and unsustainable food system into one that is fairer, more resilient and less dependent on fossil fuels. Their Start-Up Programme offers everything you need to get your local box scheme up and running the training, mentoring, tools and support to start feeding your community more sustainably and creating jobs in your local area. The five groups from across the UK who took part in last year’s programme are all successfully up and running and are about to complete their first year of trading. If you have enthusiasm, spare time and a commitment to getting a social enterprise started, the programme might be for you.
They’re running a free introductory workshop on Wednesday 4 July 2012 at Growing Communities headquarters in Hackney. This is a chance for people interested in setting up a community-led box scheme to find out more about the Start-up Programme, to see Growing Communities box scheme in action and ask questions.
To register for the free workshop, see how to apply. Spaces are limited, so please submit an expression of interest form by Friday 15 June.
To find out more about the Start-up Programme itself, visit the Growing Communities Start-up website ›