School Garden Grants 2020
Our School Garden Grants programme was established by the Whole Kids Foundation and is now in its fifth year in the UK. In 2020, we have a fund of £55,000 for grants of up to £2,000 and we are supporting schools in the London boroughs of Tower Hamlets, Brent, Enfield, Islington, Camden and Greenwich. This is an incredible opportunity for schools to build an edible garden and incorporate outdoor learning into the curriculum. Details on how to apply our on our website and applications close on Friday 10 January 2020. (Link: https://www.schoolfoodmatters.org/projects/school-garden-grants)
Beekeeping Taster Day
Our Honey Bee Programme is designed to raise awareness of the importance of honey bees and offers schools visits from enthusiastic beekeepers from the London Beekeepers Association (LBKA). This year, 1,300 students received school visits from the LBKA! The second part of the programme offers taster sessions for teachers who are considering introducing bees into their school environment. Our most recent session, run by LBKA, provided 15 teachers with lots of information about bees’ behaviour and lifecycles, costs associated with keeping bees and explanations of the equipment needed. It also offered them the opportunity to experience handling the bees, which was the highlight of the day. One teacher stated “I loved holding the frame of the bees, it was terrific. It was a lot more than I expected, I wasn’t expecting to be so hands on and touch the bees.”
(Link: https://www.schoolfoodmatters.org/projects/honey-bee-programme)
Edible School Gardens
Back in October, volunteers from Belazu Ingredient Co. started the build of an edible school garden at a primary school in Northolt as part of an exciting project to transform an unloved corner of the school grounds to develop a food growing space. The project aims to encourage outdoor learning and help children better connect to the food they eat. Children have come together to plant spring bulbs and winter vegetables as part of a big push from the school to integrate outdoor learning into the curriculum.
Winter Sale
After a brilliant year of selling in 2019, our Young Marketeers raised £1,600 which provided 6,400 meals for vulnerable families, distributed by FareShare. Over the past few weeks, students from 4 schools have visited a FareShare depot in London to see first-hand the shocking quantity of food wasted. The Young Marketeers will be setting up shop at Borough Market on February 4th 2020, selling delicious soups made from surplus veg, and bread baked with help from Bread Ahead.
(Link: https://www.schoolfoodmatters.org/projects/young-marketeers)
