AGENDA
We did it! Three schools
cultivate allotments
‘We started our allotment with a grant and donations’
A
s a business and enterprise teacher, I know people want to put money into inspiring ventures, and our
allotment project has been a wonderful example.
For a few years I had thought a
kitchen garden and cookery school would make a great ‘alternative educational provision’ to the school curriculum. Teaching practical skills makes young people more employable, so I was on board when the head of Year 7 emailed me about funding for an allotment. A grant of £3,000 from our
governors started us off and we sought advice from the head gardener of a local hotel, who also put us in touch with another local school running a similar project. We learned about the importance
of fi nding a patch of land that had sun exposure from dawn to dusk and
how to plan our planting around the school year to avoid everything being ready to pick in August when no one was around. The fi rst business to donate was a
local timber company, which put £500 into the pot. We ordered the wood, which was delivered during the second half of the autumn term. Back then, we lost light early, but a teacher from our design and technology team worked late to cut stakes, and over a few weeks we created raised beds on a weed barrier membrane. We then approached Wickes
through their Community Programme (
wickes.co.uk/ community-programme) to ask if they would provide enough rakes, forks, spades and hand tools for the 270 pupils, which they did. Our contact at the local school
helped us develop a planting schedule and put us in touch with
School Fundraising SPRING 2025 11
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