Staff Volunteering Scheme: Falmer vegetable garden

I was delighted when the Staff Volunteering Scheme was launched as I’ve been a keen volunteer with several local charities and community groups for many years. I initially applied to the scheme to visit vegetable projects across Brighton to gain knowledge and understanding on how to start the Vegetable Garden on Falmer campus.

I visited several projects including Fork and Dig It at Falmer, London Road Community Garden and Brighton and Hove Food Partnership’s garden in Preston Park. My colleague and I secured funding from the Health Promoting University project, which awarded small grants to the Environmental Action Networks; Springboard and Active Sussex. With the support and financial backing of the Estate and Facilities Management Department we approached Brighton and Hove Wood Recycling Project who built us four beautiful raised beds. We sourced very high quality organic soil from less than a mile away at Brighton Community Compost Centre and got staff and students involved in donating vegetables. We bought two compost bins from Mid Sussex Wood Recycling Project for our plant waste and hope to expand this into a composting scheme for kitchens on campus.

We have a weekly session at the vegetable garden where volunteers water, plant, dig, share ideas and get away from their computers and outside for an hour. We have all learnt a lot about growing vegetables and running a community gardening project. The unpredictable weather has meant that some vegetables have grown more successfully than others. We had delicious beans, peas, fennel, courgettes, chard, lettuce and many varieties of herbs. Our sweet corn and leeks were less successful and we have green tomatoes ripening on our office window sills. One volunteer is studying a course at Plumpton College and advises us on growing techniques. She suggested and designed a system to get water to the roots of our tomato plants using plastic bottles which brought them back to life. The vegetable garden is on the side of a hill so the plants have no protection against the wind. We had been considering planting a hedge or constructing a bamboo fence to offer some protection but after advice from Brighton and Hove Food Partnership we have decided to monitor the site over a whole year of seasons. A downside to a barrier against the wind is that the garden would be less visible and possibly less accessible.

I also used some of my staff volunteering hours to extend the University of Brighton Food Co-op to Falmer campus. The Food Co-op promotes healthy, local, seasonal foods through providing fruit and vegetable boxes each week on campus and selling health foods. I started by holding an open meeting on campus to gauge interest in the scheme. From this meeting I worked with two volunteers to set up the scheme and advertise it across the campus. We carried out a survey and found out that the majority of people were interested in local cheap produce so we sourced a supplier and ordered some vegetables!

We currently supply up to 60 vegetable boxes of local good quality produce every Thursday to students and staff for £3. 10. Volunteers run the stall, doing an hour each to help with dividing the vegetables into boxes, handing out boxes, signing up new members and taking orders. Each week there is a real buzz around campus about vegetables and the scheme has got people talking between Departments and Schools.

Our future plans include involving more students on the management committee, signing up new members and holding events to increase awareness of the effect our food has on the environment.

I am now moving to a new post with Sustrans, the pioneer of safe cycling routes in the UK. Setting up a vegetable garden and food co-op was really important in my career development. It gave me skills in managing projects as well as experience in behaviour change initiatives, both essential for my new job.

Lucy Dance, Programme Assistant, School of Education