The Growing Communities Startup Programme

by Startacus Admin

If you’re London based and you’d like to help your community have access to more sustainably produced food, then the Startup Programme from Growing Communities would be well worth a look. 
For 20 years now, the Hackney group have been running a community-led box scheme with produce coming direct from local, sustainable farms and from their own growing sites. They’ve also helped other communities across the UK to set up their own box schemes using a similar model.
Right now though in conjunction with Urban Food Routes, they’re looking for London groups and individuals to join their programme and launch their own box schemes throughout 2015.

The Startup programme follows a tried and tested model and if you’re accepted onto it, you’ll get access to all the tools and resources that Growing Communities have developed over the last two decades, access to an online toolkit, extensive mentoring and peer support and also access to an interest free loan to help you get set up in your community.

Successful applicants will embark on a programme which covers everything from the initial stage of market research and generating a business plan right through to launch and trading stage.

What is so good about this programme is not only the extensive support that it offers, but also the fact that in real terms it is helping more and more people create and gain access to a more sustainable and resilient food system. For that alone, we doff our proverbial cap to the Growing Communities folk! 

If you’re interested in applying, you’ve got until 15 December 2014 to get your application in via the Growing Communities site.

Best of luck to any of you who do!

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• #startup programme
• #sustainable food production
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• #
• #london based

Published on: 24th September 2014