News Green partnership helps to grow food for local communities in need

East Devon District Council (EDDC), Suez and Coastal Recycling have cultivated a partnership to support Devon Dig and Donate, a community growing project with a mission to grow and provide fresh, healthy, nutritious produce for people experiencing food poverty in East Devon and Exeter.

One tonne of cardboard collected from East Devon residents was donated by EDDC, which SUEZ collected from EDDC’s Materials Recycling Facility and delivered to the Devon Dig and Donate site in Broadclyst. The project has also received 28 tonnes of compost created from EDDC’s green waste collections from local residents which has been processed and delivered by Coastal Recycling. The cardboard and compost are creating no dig vegetable beds on the site, which will grow a range of fruit and vegetables for food banks and other community food initiatives.

Transported by SUEZ, 2 tonnes of wood chippings from Streetscene parks maintenance team are being used to build pathways between the growing beds, making the site more accessible for all including people in wheelchairs.

Councillor Geoff Jung, East Devon District Council’s Portfolio Holder for Coast, Country and Environment, said:

My sincere thanks go to all the hard-working teams for their help on this project. Without all the different organisations pulling together, Devon Dig and Donate would not be able to grow as much food for local families.

It’s a great example of what can be achieved with public, private and charity cross-sector working when each different team does a little, to help a lot.

Rhiannon Alcock, Dig and Donate, said:

Creating a growing space of this size from scratch with limited funding can be a daunting task, but thanks to the team at EDDC, Suez and Coastal recycling, we have been able to start  creating our community garden to maximize this year’s growing season. We are extremely grateful for the support the teams have given us, especially those going above and beyond to drop off resources in their own time. It really does show when the local community and organizations rally round to support you, anything is possible! Developing partnerships like this is what community and grass roots projects are all about and we are so thankful that we have the support of these teams as we develop the site and the project.”

As our project grows, we are eager to welcome new volunteers to Devon Dig and Donate. We welcome people of any age, background or ability – whether you have never tried gardening before, or have a passion for growing food and flowers, we’d love to hear from you and welcome you to our growing sessions which happen Wednesdays 6pm-8pm and Saturday mornings 10am-12pm at Heathfield Farm in Broadclyst, near Exeter. We are creating a community as part of this project and we’d love people to join us.