Background
The Growing Manchester programme was launched in 2010 as a partnership between Manchester City Council Public Health team, Hulme Community Garden Centre, BITE and The Kindling Trust and was in response to local research which identified:
• A high level of demand for allotments in the city
• A high level of interest in setting up community food growing projects
• The increasing success of the In Bloom Awards in Manchester
• What support community food growing projects need to thrive
The pilot programme consisted of seven core elements:
• A self-assessment tool and application form
• Introduction to Fruit and Vegetable Growing training
• Site Assessments and visits
• A Strong Roots Workshop
• Community development support
• Specialist training
• Funding
Since 2010 we have opened up the programme to new applications every autumn, and we now support over 100 community food growing projects across the whole of the city.