Community garden put down roots in Broadclyst to fight food poverty in Exeter

A community garden project has received over £17,000 from The National Lottery Community Fund, the largest community funder in the UK, to grow fresh produce for food banks and food action initiatives in Exeter and the surrounding area.

Having seen many families experiencing food poverty first-hand, Rhiannon Alcock set up Devon Dig & Donate, a community growing project run by volunteers to be able to give food banks and other local communities in need access to fresh produce.

After working in education for over 15 years, Rhiannon has supported many families who are struggling to maintain a healthy diet because they’re unable to access nutritious food.

Thanks to National Lottery players, Devon Dig & Donate can set out on its mission to tackle food poverty in Exeter and the surrounding areas.

Gardening and growing sessions run twice a week and are open to anyone who would like to create and tend to the garden in Broadclyst, learn new skills or meet people in the local community.

Ellie, Volunteer at Devon Dig & Donate, said: “It's just so nice to meet other people who have similar interests and learn from each other as well.”

Volunteers have already been busy marking out the beds ready for planting vegetables, and have planted 200 onion sets, 20 rows of carrots and 100 seed potatoes in the last few months.

And as part of their commitment to make the garden an inclusive space, paths have been made wheelchair accessible and raised planters are in development.

As well as providing fresh produce for people in need, the project aims to run workshops which will teach people how to grow their own food, equipping families with the skills that they need to live healthier lives.

Rhiannon Alcock, Founder and Co-Director of Devon Dig & Donate, said: “The ultimate goal is to create a project that is run by the community, for the community.”

Devon Dig & Donate isn’t alone in benefiting from National Lottery funding. Today it was announced that over £200 million of National Lottery funding has been distributed to over 3,500 community organisations across England in the past three months*.

Jess, Volunteer at Devon Dig & Donate, said: “The fact that we're growing food for the community in need here is a really nice thing, but we're also building a community amongst all the volunteers themselves, as well.”

Jenni, another Volunteer, said: “I really like the mission of giving back to the community. I have no experience of gardening, so I'm completely new, and I want to learn some new skills.”

Jon Eastwood, Deputy Director for England at The National Lottery Community Fund, said: “We’re proud to support amazing projects like Devon Dig & Donate, which strengthen society and enable South West communities to live healthier lives. Our latest Corporate Plan sets out our commitment to invest more than 90% of our grants to support at least one our four community-led missions: to enable communities to come together, be environmentally sustainable, live healthier lives and to support children and young people to thrive.

“Over the next three years, we will dedicate at least 15% of our grants to projects with environmental sustainability as their primary aim.”

National Lottery players raise over £30 million a week for good causes across the UK. Thanks to them, last year The National Lottery Community Fund was able to distribute over half a billion pounds (£615.4 million) of life-changing funding to communities.

To find out more visit www.TNLCommunityFund.org.uk