Good Food Lewisham January Newsletter 2025!
Happy New Year and a big thank you all the businesses, groups and residents who helped provide food over the Christmas period. Your time, love and dedication to your communities is a credit to you all and we are ever proud of Lewisham as an incredible borough for support and kindness.
Special thanks to Lewisham Business owners providing Christmas/ hot meals warmth and friendship during the festive period. Christmas is a particularly tough time for many and this extra support deserves full recognition.
Richard and Team from Cummin Up Catford , Marcia from My Green Mango, Hill Station Telegraph Hill, Pistachio’s Café partnering with Parlez and Pristine Eats
CC Foundation for their annual Turkey drive delivering Fresh Chickens and Turkey to Food giving projects, soup kitchens, housing estates, direct to Lewisham families so everyone has a chance for a good Christmas dinner.
Community churches and faith groups for providing a hot meal
St Peters, Brockley, Catford Soup Kitchen, Christ Church Bellingham, Rehoboth Lunch Club, Greater Faith Ministries, Ichthus Community Table, Dominion City, World of Hope, Salvation Army, The Love Fellowship Lifeline Ministry and FoodCycle Lewisham.
and all of the Lewisham food giving groups that continue to provide weekly food assistance to their communities throughout the whole year.. Full list of groups
Plus the FELIX project who provide continuous food and support to Lewisham on a huge scale. Thank you
New Year New Ideas
Make a Good Food 2025 New Years Pledge
To make a difference for yourself, your community and or the world Pledge now
Ideas we love
Volunteers are always appreciated with an array of roles – food packers, food distributors, drivers, growers. Explore the many possibilities for you to get involved and become a volunteer: or fill our expression of interest form and we will get back to you asap:
Added benefit of a free Lewisham Local Card being so fabulous and supporting your communities.
Here’s a summer flavour of one of Lewisham's community growing group
The Coco Collective, an Ital community garden in the heart of Bellingham
written by Josey Crane
Walk into the Coco Collective in the heart of Bellingham and be transported to another world; birdsong will fill your ears with the sweetest sounds, wildflowers like bright red poppies and oxeye daisies will brighten your gaze and tall trees will comfort your soul. And Ital - the resident cat - will nestle at your feet. This place is special. It provides a safe escape away from the hectic pace of the modern world where people can come and spend time in nature, connect with others and learn how to grow heritage foods and healing herbs the ‘Ital’ way - a Rastafarian word which means local people growing food organically.
Lots of options for volunteering gardening,
Funding support opportunities
Facilitating more building capacity
Raising awareness, promotions
Community outreach - flyering and speaking with residents
Coco Collective are also looking for a new team to be based at their sister garden in Catford (The white gate next to 104 Engleheart Rd, Catford, SE6 2HW) at the start of the growing season 2025.
info and volunteering please email cococollective.org@gmail.com
What to sow/Grow in January
Planning ahead What to Sow in January
Vegetables
Sow broad beans in pots in mild areas, placing them in a cold frame or unheated greenhouse.
Sow seed indoors for early crops e.g: lettuces, summer brassicas (e.g. cabbages and cauliflowers), spinach, salad onions and turnips.
Sow onion seed in a heated propagator.
Events
Health and Wellbeing Day
Saturday 12 January, head to Deptford Lounge for our Health and Wellbeing Day from 10am to 4pm. Good Food will be on a stall with leaflets help and advice.
Enjoy free activities like chair yoga, massages, juicing demos, songs, stories, mindful colouring, and a creative workshop by The Arts Network. There's something for everyone, and it's all free. https://deptfordlounge.org.uk/whats-on/event/health-and-wellbeing-day/
Pond making, Pruning and
Gardening Gatherings in Jan
Eventbrite
Nourish Now
Community groups can join Nourish Now at our Lewisham Food Giving Group monthly catch up to learn about their volunteer cook project
Setting up and referring to Nourish Now- a Home Cooking project Tickets, Thu 16 Jan 2025 at 13:00 | Eventbrite
Good Food Lewisham Network Meeting. Focusing on the topic of food waste, looking at the problems, solutions and creative ideas and recipe samples. Please contact if you would like to get involve goodfood@lewishamlocal.com
Book your place via our Eventbrite link
Wassail – celebrate Wild Cat Wilderness's fruit trees
18/1/25 2-4pm.
Everyone welcome and suitable for all ages. Did you know that the Wild Cat Wilderness is classified as a veteran orchard because of our many old trees, plus we planted a new orchard?
Our first community event of 2025 will be a wassail which is an ancient custom of visiting orchards and reciting incantations and singing to the trees to promote a good harvest for the coming year. There will be instrument making, music and singing and a procession to visit our old and new apple trees. The Rushey Green Timebank choir will be singing and encouraging you to join in some traditional wassail songs. This will be followed by storytelling and mulled cider and apple juice around the campfire. Please bring any instruments. All welcome but booking essential. Donation for drinks so please bring cash. Entry from 1.30, last entry 2pm sorry no latecomers. Book here
RSPB Big Garden Bird Watch 10.30-1pm. Last entry 11.30Join us at the Wilderness to record what birds we have on site. All welcome. Learn about birds and help make some bird feeders. We have a limited number of binoculars available to use but if you have your own please bring them. Vegetarian campfire stew available so please bring cash. Please book a place for everyone attending inc adults and children.
Annual RSPB Bird Watching Walk Saturday 25 January, 10-11amPlease join us for our annual bird watching walk!The Corbett Wildlife Supporters Club and Friends of Forster Park are organising a bird count in Forster Park in support of the annual RSPB Big Garden Birdwatch. Just turn up on the day, requested donations of £2 per person for RSPB gratefully received (comes with official RSPB pin badge): but your eyes and participation welcome most of all meet by the café at 10am.
Opportunities
Good To Cook
How can I get a place?
To win one of 20 places on Cook for Change, you’ll need to be hungry to learn, thirsty for inspiration and ready to do things differently. Places are fully subsidised, and we will also cover out-of-pocket bootcamp expenses of up to £100 per day.
Applications open on 20 January, and the bootcamp will take place in London from Tuesday 29 April – Thursday 1 May.
Useful resources
Lewisham Food giving groups - where to get free and low-cost food in Lewisham
Warm Welcomes 2025 is back
Warm Welcomes in Lewisham - we have a new map of the Warm Welcomes across Lewisham - please share within your networks for people who would benefit from a welcoming, warm space, hot food and drinks and activities: Lewisham Warm Welcomes - Lewisham Local
Local Call out
Friends of Blythe Hill
'We are collecting all kinds of (clean) building waste that will be used for filling the gabion baskets in our new wildlife garden. These will create all kinds of nooks and crannies for wildlife, while also remembering Blythe Hill’s heritage as a brick factory.' More info follow https://www.instagram.com/blythehillfields/
Thank you for your reading
If you would like to connect with us for further ideas, events, newsletters please mail goodfood@lewishamlocal.com you can also follow us on Instagram gflewisham
Face book and X, website and connect to our what's app Good Food Business, food and growing networks. Please contact for more information.
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