FCFCG celebrates a growing history

A new oral history project recording the growth of the UK’s city farming and community gardening movement was officially launched at a special event in Nottingham on September 3, when it took centre stage at the 30th anniversary celebrations of the Federation of City Farms and Community Gardens.

It is the first time the development of this pioneering movement has been documented in this way and is particularly timely as there has been an explosion of interest in local community food production in the last two years, as well as increased recognition from policy-makers about the benefits of ‘green spaces’ in urban areas.

The project's official launch was timed to coincide with a celebration of community farming and gardening in Nottingham to mark 30 years of the Federation of City Farms and Community Gardens. The event included a conference session at the University of Nottingham, workshops and site visits to local community groups in Nottingham, as well as a civic reception and a celebration ceilidh. A special garden plot using the shape of the FCFCG logo has been created in the grounds of Nottingham Castle for visitors to view.

The project has been funded by an award of £34,500 made by the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) under the Your Heritage scheme. And it's hoped the project will inspire even more local people to create community gardens and farms across the UK, and encourage more people to take actively improve their local environment. FCFCG Chief Executive Jeremy Iles said: “This is an important project because of the upsurge of interest in re-connecting with local food growing. People will be able to learn lessons from the past and we envisage that emerging community groups will be inspired by other people's achievements.

"We are extremely pleased to have secured funding for this project and be able to launch it at our 30th anniversary event, which will be a marvellous celebration of the great opportunities and benefits that community farms and gardens create for people in neighbourhoods across the UK."

Nerys Watts, HLF’s Head of Region for the South West said: “In the year that marks both the International Year of Biodiversity and FCFCG’s 30th anniversary we are delighted to be able to support this excellent project that so clearly demonstrates the importance of our urban green spaces, both to our natural heritage and to the local communities that care for them and benefit from them.”

Since the early days in the 1960s, when a few groups of local people came together to convert patches of derelict land for gardening,  there are now more than 120 city farms and school farms, nearly 1,000 community gardens and a growing number of community-managed allotments. They help to empower people of all ages and backgrounds to build better communities, often in deprived areas.

During the course of the project, 20 witness seminars will be held around the UK, when stalwarts from long-established city farms and community gardens will recall their experiences, both the highs and the lows, and reflect on the benefits that have been created for local people. A number of one-to-one interviews will also be held, particularly in South West England, while copies of documents and photographs charting the movement's history will be collected to create an archive.

At the end of the project, a full summary of the findings will be placed on the FCFCG website. A celebration event will also take place at the Museum of Bristol.