There are larger and more formal organisations working with food growing, either because that’s what they do or because they have a specific food growing element!
The video Grow Bradford made below shows the gardens at Esholt Hall that were developed by Spongetree and Pippa Chapman at the Yorkshire Water site.
Watch this space! Please tag us and share when you find new food growing across the city, so we can inspire more people to get involved!
BEES (Bradford Environmental Education Service) is part of Bradford YMCA and has been running since 1985 offering a range of community education projects with communities, schools, and individuals. Two key projects that BEES run are the Conservation Volunteer Group and the Field Trip Group. The Conservation Volunteer Group meet once a week to manage different sites across Bradford District with a focus on habitat management, sometimes with and on behalf of other organisations too. Volunteers learn new skills, meet, and socialise with others and keep active. The Field Trip Group is for people interested in Natural History. The group takes trips out once a week to different sites, looking at birds, flowers, lichen, fungi, and it involves sharing and learning together. One of their main projects bringing together the range of skills they offer is Bowling Community Orchard, at Bowling Park allotments on Bowling Park Drive. The site is focused on growing local food. It includes about 50 trees of apples, pears, plums and more (including many Yorkshire varieties) grown organically, individually or in espaliers and cordons. It creates a natural green space for people for wellbeing and organic management of the local ecosystem, which includes a wildflower meadow to attract pollinators. At the Community Orchard annually in September/October BEES offers Bradford’s best established and well-loved Apple Day, which in 2023 hosted their 23rd Apple Day!
Sponge Tree. Crag road community hub. Learn how to grow your own food. Spend time outdoors. Help develop the community garden & make new friends. Limited access to the garden area. For further info contact – Rosie Clarke cragroad@bradfordnorth.org.uk
Mel Frances, Senior Development Coordinator at Trees for Cities, discusses the planting that environmental charity Trees for Cities has done in partnership with the City of Bradford Metropolitan District Council and their department of Public Health. Other partners include Bradford Council Parks and Woodlands department, Fruitworks, YORGreenCIC and BEES If you’re a landowner or a school that’s interested in having trees planted, please can get in touch at info@treesforcities.org.
Find out more about:
Trees for Climate Action: https://www.treesforcities.org/trees-for-climate-action
Trees for Cities Youth Volunteering: https://www.treesforcities.org/youth
Field Studies Council Tree Training: https://www.field-studies-council.org/free-tree-training-2/
Field Studies Council Train the Trainer courses:
In person – https://www.field-studies-council.org/courses-and-experiences/static-courses/train-the-trainer-in-person/
Horton Community Farm is a Permaculture LAND centre for food growing and community resilience on Cecil Avenue allotments near the centre of Bradford. For more details about their programmes please check the website www.hcf.org.uk or the official Facebook page www.facebook.com/hortoncommunityfarm / hortoncommunityfarm
SHINE stands for Social, Health, Inner, Natural and Economic wellbeing. St Stephen’s Church, Donisthorpe St c/o 48 Newton Street, West Bowling, Bradford, England BD5 7BX