We hope you are enjoying the warmer weather. The Good Food Lewisham (GFL) team have been busy finalising our three year action plan and working on our Sustainable Food Places Silver Award application. Thanks to everyone who inputted into this via our survey, at meetings etc to help us identify our new priorities that will guide our work over the next three years. We will be launching our new plan at our upcoming quarterly network meeting on Tuesday 9th of July. https://www.goodfoodlewisham.org/post/quarterly-network-meeting-9th-july-food-for-the-planet-action-plan-launch.
We’ve had stalls at four community festivals recently and it’s been great to meet people and promote Good Food Lewisham around the borough. Over 40 people took a good food pledge at Downham Celebrates and Bellingham Festival, engaging over 50 people with a ‘grow your own hummus activity’.
We’ll be at Blythe Hill Fields festival on Sunday 7th July: https://www.blythehillfields.org.uk/events/2024/7/7/festival-2024-save-the-date
Upcoming Good Food Lewisham events for your diaries!
https://www.goodfoodlewisham.org/post/quarterly-network-meeting-9th-july-food-for-the-planet-action-plan-launch Our next quarterly network meeting will be taking place on Tuesday 9th July at Honor Oak Community Centre 12.30 - 3.30. There’ll be a garden tour at Frendsbury Gardens (less than 10mins away) at 11.30am. There’ll be a bring and share mainly vegan lunch. It would be great to see you there. If you’re involved in a group that’s working on climate and food and/or you're local to the Honor Oak area and would like to talk about your group email goodfood@lewishamlocal.com
Good Food Lewisham Monthly Food Giving Groups Meeting Tickets, Multiple Dates | Eventbrite - Thursday 4th of July at 1pm for food giving projects Public Health Lewisham will present a new nutritional guidance briefing for food aid providers.
Put good food on the agenda in the run up to the general election
Along with Sustain, we are encouraging our members to write to parliamentary candidates in the run up to the election, or ask a question at a local hustings, to raise awareness of Good Food Lewisham and some of the key issues we are championing locally.
The Steering Group has drafted a letter template, thanks to Sustain’s Election toolkit resource. You can download our template below.
You can find a list of candidates in your area here: Who Can I Vote For?
Please CC goodfood@lewishamlocal.com into any emails you send so we can record how many emails were sent and any responses candidates may provide.
Sustain colleagues have been wading in the weeds of the party manifestos in the last week and are now launching the Sustain Manifesto Tracker! The Tracker highlights party pledges on food and farming policies, and compares how these size up next to the Sustain manifesto.
Food Justice updates
Last week Public Health Lewisham and Lewisham Local held a 'Food Justice Action Plan One Year On event at 2000 Community Action Centre to provide an update to Lewisham's Food Justice Alliance stakeholders on progress made on the plan over the last year, and provide an opportunity to highlight emerging needs and gaps. If you would like to join Lewisham's Food Justice Alliance to support delivery of Lewisham's action plan, please email FoodJusticeActionPlan@lewisham.gov.uk to be added to the mailing list. You can find the action plan and updates on Lewisham Council's website: Lewisham Council - Food justice action plan
Dignity resources for food support organisations
The Alliance for Dignified Food Support has just launched a website with useful resources for food support projects. Good Food Lewisham fed into the project's development, and we will be looking at these resources along with the Appreciative Inquiry into what food support looks like at its best at a future Food Giving Network meeting.
Lewisham Food Growing Network Update
Our funding from the Soil Association which supported development of our food growing network came to an end in April. We had a useful session in May on next steps for the network. Food growing was really popular in our survey and so features heavily in our Three Year Action Plan. Our food growing WhatsApp group’s growing steadily – we now have 110 members from growing spaces across the borough, as well as interested individuals. Get in touch with helen@lewishamlocal.com if you’d like to be added to this group and if you’d like to get more involved in the food growing network.
Right To Grow in Lewisham
There’s a new, exciting local Right to Grow group which is starting to map the borough for potential food growing spaces, both in the ground and in containers. We’ll be discussing this at our next network meeting. There’s a separate WhatsApp group. Again, please get in touch if you’d like to be more involved. We’re figuring out the best way to share the mapping tools with you all so that everyone can help map their areas to create a big map of the whole borough.
Funding for Fruit Trees
Do you want more trees in your community? Have you ever looked at a space in your community and imagined what it would be like if there were more trees? International tree Foundation is here to help you make your local community greener.
Gardening Sessions at The Field
Anyone wanting to potter, plant, weed, water etc. can turn up after 2pm on Sundays and after 4pm Tuesdays.
The sensory garden at Forster Memorial Park is full to the brim and welcomes new growers; Gavin, Andrea, Harps (& baby Alya)
The Green Flag is flying at Forster Memorial Park; it went up on the recent funday, which attracted over 500 visitors. The Friends Group held a fundraising stall selling herbs, allergy free tea bags and sensory seeds. Theresa has local blends in biodegradable tea bags available direct and suitable for treating hayfever symptoms.
The Frothy Coffee Hut cafe terrace has seating for 30 beneath a new roof. Consumers may now enjoy refreshments in all weathers!
Abbotshall Road Healthy Lifestyle Centre: Health is Wealth Day.
40 people took part in a wild food herbal tour during the gloriously sunny day in June. Organised by the Downham Sevenfields PCN lead by Barbara Gray (former lady Deputy Mayor for Lewisham ).
Weekly Sessions at Sydenham Gardens
You can just turn up, but great if you can let us know you're planning to come - by emailing charlene@sydenhamgarden.org.uk or texting 07421126217. Please also contact us if you want to receive info about future sessions.
Capital Growth Session on School Food Gardens
Cultivating successful school food gardens
An online workshop to help build sustainable food growing projects in schools.
Monday 8th July
Wildcat Explorers + Other Events at Wild Cat Wilderness
Wild Explorers with 15 events over the summer including: campfire cooking, minibeast hunt, fruit picking, meet the bees, den building, whittling, creative activities and lots more.
As a charity we welcome everyone to our wild community space (sorry no dogs aside assistance animals). All activities are free but some have a small fee to cover costs but donations towards our charity really welcome and there will be a cash collection tin on the day. Join in with your child/ren and meet other local people and families. To book go to the What's On page of the website and use the drop down menu to book places. Please book for all adults and children coming. Book here.
WCW have other events coming up https://wildcatwilderness.org/whats-on/
too – woodland volunteering and their 10 year anniversary event on 14th and 15th September. You can find everything on their ‘What’s on?’ page.
Good Food Business in Lewisham
Amrutha Lounge Vegan Restaurant in Honor Oak
Josey a GFL volunteer recently visited Amrutha vegan restaurant in Honor Oak who were very supportive of GFL, offered us some food for our upcoming network meeting and let us know that children eat free on Saturday and Sunday lunch times.
Goldsmiths Community Centre Cafe
Their community cafe is now open on Thursdays and Fridays 10am – 4pm.
Lewisham Business Awards
Are you our next Business Award winner?
There's less than a month to go for your business to be nominated for the 2024 Business Awards. This is a yearly chance to be acknowledged for your outstanding work. Nominate today for the 2024 Business Awards. We are particularly happy to see that there is an independent Good Food Retailer award, and encourage residents to nominate their favourite good food business- particirualry those who have signed up to GFL's Business Charter, and are featured on our Good Food Business directory: https://www.lewishamlocal.com/good-food-lewisham-businesses/
Being involved can help amplify your business as well as better connect you with the local enterprise community. Nominations can be made by customers, suppliers, partners, and or businesses themselves - and must be in before 12 noon on Monday, 15 July 2024. Find out more about the benefits, key dates and categories by visiting here.
The new national Real Bread map has been updated!
Free small business success workshops
Register for an engaging four-part workshop series tailored for Lewisham's small business owners. These Organised & Profitable® Workshops feature interactive courses, and offer actionable strategies that can help strengthen and expand your business. Find out more and how to register
From Kitchen Counters to Grocery Aisles: The Inspiring Startup Stories You Need to Hear!
Thu 4 Jul 2024 6:30 PM - 8:30 PM
Caroline Graveson Building Batavia Rd, Goldsmiths University SE14 6BJ
Ever dreamed of turning your homemade creation into the next big thing on store shelves? Join us for an electrifying entrepreneurship seminar where you'll hear directly from three business visionaries who transformed their kitchen passions into nationwide branded products.
Select tickets – From Kitchen Counters to Grocery Aisles: The Inspiring Startup Stories You Need to Hear – Caroline Graveson Building Batavia Rd (tickettailor.com)
Funding and training for groups
Green Community Grants from Bupa Foundation can support practical projects which help both people and the environment through grants of up to £2,000.
They want to fund practical projects which benefit both people and planet health. Priority will be given to projects that:
Improve or create new green spaces
Benefit and involve the local community
Are located in disadvantaged areas
Some examples of green projects could include:
Improving a local community garden for community use and recreational activities
Volunteer-led tree or flower planting to improve air quality and biodiversity
Creating an outdoor classroom or ‘forest school’ on school grounds
Creating a community food growing space
The deadline for applications is Sunday 30 June 2024.
Directory training
Everything Community Connections Lewisham knows is now online - almost 1,000 documents about community activities and support! You can search by type of activity such as lunch club, area of Lewisham, disability access, cost, bus route etc. Searching is not intuitive so I strongly recommend our online training. All sessions are 30 minutes, and they are repeats, i.e you only do it once.
If you would like a calendar invitation sent to you or if you have any questions, please contact CommunityConnections@ageuklands.org.uk
Celebrate Lewisham’s Community Champions: Nominations Now Open for the Community Awards 2024
The Community Awards are back and Lewisham’s residents are invited to make their nominations for the seventh year. The Community Awards are an opportunity to celebrate the unsung local champions who are making a difference across the borough, and for us it's a great opportunity to showcase our community food heroes!
Who do you think should receive an award? There are four categories open for entries:
Individual
Young Person (age 21 and under)
Business
Faith or Community Group
Find more videos of award recipients on the Lewisham Council YouTube channel.
Nominate your community champions and say thank you to those in the community who deserve it most. Nominations for the Community Awards close on Sunday 8th September.
Volunteers from Rehoboth Community Outreach who have previously been nominated for a Mayors Volunteer Award
If you ever have anything you’d like us to include in this newsletter do let us know by emailing goodfood@lewishamlocal.com
Commenti