Alexandra Park Food Forest
Idea in a Nutshell
Alexandra Park Food Forest will build a new composting area to demonstrate different methods and help people in the East End of Glasgow learn about the benefits of composting. Alongside volunteer days to build the compost area, we’ll run workshops that explain composting processes and give people the skills to build their own compost bins or wormeries. On site, composting will improve soil health in the Food Forest and in our new Kitchen Garden, so we can produce more free food for locals.
Experience
We have 8 years of experience in the ecological maintenance of the Alexandra Park Food Forest and community engagement through organising events, after school clubs and training days at the Food Forest. Since 2016, we have run more than 70 volunteering sessions and community events to provide education on ecological food production and strengthen people’s connection to their natural environment and between each other. From wildflower planting to wassailing and herbal medicine courses, these events have allowed us to get a better understanding of the local community and the best approaches in engaging them within the Food Forest.
The organisation is led by a team of 7 volunteer directors, each bringing together different skills in agroecological growing, permaculture design, soil health, as well as skills including finance, project management, community engagement, science communication and digital design. This variety of skills and backgrounds lends itself well for jointly developing ideas for activities at the site and organising strategies.
This project will be co-ordinated by Clem Sandison, who has extensive experience in both the organizational and ecological aspects of the project. This includes community engagement experience from organizing workshops and training programmes, and working directly with a variety of communities around Scotland. Previous work with The Landworkers Alliance and Pasture for Life, among others, has also included the management of various projects and events surrounding farming and land usage. She also has specific experience with horticulture and permaculture in Scotland through projects such as the Field Lab programme by the Soil Association Scotland and work with The Orchard Project.