Growing together with Greening our Communities
Across Norfolk, community gardens and shared green spaces are showing how small, practical support can create meaningful change.
With access to basic tools, materials and expertise, local people are turning overlooked spaces into places that strengthen connection with nature, food and each other. Through the Greening Our Communities Fund, the Foundation supports this work by removing barriers and backing the people who know their communities best to take action close to home.
Simple ideas with huge impact
At New Routes in Norwich, funding from the Greening Our Communities Fund helped expand a community allotment with tools, raised beds and composting equipment. Volunteers worked together to improve soil health, grow seasonal food and introduce pollinator‑friendly planting. These practical improvements made the space more productive and environmentally sustainable. Just as important, however, has been the social change this small investment has achieved. Refugees, asylum seekers and local residents garden side by side, sharing growing techniques, learning about food and cooking together with the produce they harvest. For MarÃa, who arrived in Norwich from Ethiopia, the allotment has become a place where she has built her confidence and found a sense of belonging. Through regular gardening sessions, she has built friendships, shared her cultural knowledge and taken fresh food home to cook for her family. Her experience reflects the wider impacts of Greening our Communities: forming connections through a shared environment.
Listening to community voices
Community green spaces also offer young people a chance to shape the places around them. At SWAN Youth Project in Downham Market, support from the Foundation enabled the group to employ a Garden Coordinator to work alongside young people as they designed a new outdoor space. Young people’s voices directly shaped the space. One young person who often feels pressure at school found the garden a space where he could talk freely, learn practical skills and take pride in contributing to something positive. His idea for an outdoor cooking area was included in the final plans, giving him a sense of pride in place. Parents have since begun getting involved, broadening this connection to nature.
For green growth
Small grants for tools, compost or coordination time help create spaces where green activities bring people together around shared activity and purpose. We can help confidence grow, skills be shared, and people feel part of something rooted in their local area. The Foundation’s role is to listen and ensure community ideas have the support they need to grow.
By backing practical local action, we help people care for their environment and strengthen the connections that help communities flourish. If you would like to develop a community green space, or support this work, you can learn more about the programme and how to get involved here.
