Grow Cook Eat Newcastle

1. Challenge Tackled

The aim of Grown Cook Eat is to highlight the issues relating to sustainability and to educate the community on the importance of farm to fork and discussing the economic value of growing your own food, either in their own garden or work together in the Newcastle Community Garden, how to prepare healthy meals while on a budget with produce from the garden and to share the meal they have prepared, with other members in the community and in the Community Cafe.

2. Target group, beneficiaries or clients

• Home carers
• Lone parents
• Older learners
• People and/or their families living with addiction/in recovery
• People experiencing rural isolation
• People who are unemployed
• People who left school early
• People with disabilities
• People with literacy difficulties
• People with mental health challenges
• Refugees and/or people seeking international protection
• Women
• Women returning to the workplace
• Young Adults

3. Solution

Grow Cook Eat run educational talks, courses and training in the community centre. the Community Garden is run by residents that attending the Basic Horticulture Course in the centre ad these members are happy to share the knowledge they have gained with new members to join the Garden. The cooking course educate resident in the community that visit other groups in the centre to in help promote food waste and food poverty issues. Knowledge is gain and shared with in the community

4. Innovation

The KWETB funded 3 basic Horticulture courses in the Centre for adults over 18. Wicklow County Council help with funding to build the Community Compost and Garden on the grounds of the Centre. Wicklow Partnership in conjunction with the HSE gave funding for the tutor for the Healthy Food Made Easy courses. Bray Youth Services and Crosscare provided training for volunteers to set up Newcastle Youth Space for youths aged 12-18. The Centre received funding from Bray Area Partnership to run art and crafts for children in Newcastle Community Camp for children aged 5-11.

5. Unique Selling Point

The Youth Space and the Community Camp give the volunteers the space to educate and train the next generation on environmental issues on biodiversity walks and teach the youths how to prepare healthy snack which includes up to 40 children in the area. Member from Newcastle Growers paid a visit to Newcastle Preschool to show 15 children food from one members garden and planted seeds with the children. The Craft Group secured funding from Wicklow Partnership to run a Family Fun Day in Newcastle Community Centre for locals and 30 residents from the Direct Provision Centre in Wicklow town to come together to prepare, cook and share traditional meals from different countries. Birdwatch Ireland and Newtown and Newcastle Men’s shed gave a talk and workshop on bats and how to build a bat boxes as they are losing their habitats due to commercial farming to 20 local residents. Newcastle Craft Group and The Saturday Club invited residents from Direct Provision to share traditional crafts from around the world. Newcastle Community Centre received funding and tutors from Eastern Midlands Waste Region and the Rediscovery Centre to run a course on Refashion and Restyle on clothing they already had in their wardrobe

6. Impact

There has been a number of impacts relating from this project. From a learning the impact has been described at a personal and professional level. The setting up of the group has addressed issues around loneliness, mental health and developing good wellbeing. A number of important groups have taken part in various courses, including people living in direct provision. The project has led to a community garden to be undertaken and developed with the community.

7. Feasibility/Transferability

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