The Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, has launched a £150,000 fund to help Londoners grow their own food in under-used areas of the capital. He also welcomed Transport for London to the Capital Growth scheme, which is run by London Food Link and has a target to create 2,012 growing spaces by 2012 in discarded patches of London, tended by enthusiastic community gardeners.

The Mayor has provided £150,000 so green fingered community groups can apply for small grants. This is in addition to the practical support being offered to communities to help them to identify plots and join Capital Growth. More than 150 plots have already been signed up across the city including canal banks, schools, roofs, private gardens open to the community and parks.

TfL is the latest sign up to Capital Growth, having provided a brownfield site above Southwark Tube station which will be leased to local people living nearby to grow a range of fruit and vegetables in this busy part of London. As part of their commitment to greening the capital, London Underground also announced today that a new ‘fruit and vegetables’ category will be created in their annual staff gardening competition – Underground in Bloom.

Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, said: ‘Lush patches of fruit and veg are springing up around the city thanks to Capital Growth. This helps to make our urban environment far more pleasant and provides a cheap, fun way to grow food. Transport for London is setting a fine example by joining and I hope other landowners jump on board, freeing up more underused plots of land.’

Rosie Boycott, Chair of London Food said: ‘ It is welcome news that Londoners can now apply for small pots of funding as well as receive practical advice to get their veg plot up and running, helping us to meet our target of 2012 spaces by 2012. More and more people are recognising the pleasure of growing your own, and we are providing a package of support to help them do so.’

The land at Southwark, while remaining in TfL’s ownership, will be tended by green-fingered residents from a nearby block of flats. The fruit and vegetables grown will not be sold for profit but will be used to create delicious food for the local community.

London Underground Chief Operating Officer, Howard Collins, said “Capital Growth, like Underground in Bloom, is another example of Transport for London’s commitment to help make London a greener and more pleasant place to live in. We support the scheme as we believe that it is a perfect way to improve Londoners access to nutritious food while maintaining and enhancing London’s green spaces. With more and more people keen to get their hands dirty we hope that plenty of other organizations in London will join us and get growing.”

Ben Reynolds, London Food Link, said: ‘We have been amazed at the great response so far to Capital Growth, and delighted that we have 150 new food growing spaces. We have had great feedback from these spaces on what they have been growing over the last season, and it’s clear these spaces are making a real difference to people’s lives.’

The Capital Growth small grants fund offers between £200-£1,500 to anyone who wants to create a new community food growing space. The grants will be on offer London-wide until March 2010 to any group that has been growing food on a plot started from January 1 this year. The grants are also on offer to anyone wanting to expand an existing food growing space.

Capital Growth is funded by the Mayor of London and by Local Food, part of the Big Lottery Fund’s Local Food Scheme. This grant round follows £50,000 offered during the pilot phase of Capital Growth funded by the London Development Agency earlier this year.

Source: London.gov

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