Our volunteer work team

If you are interested in organic growing and want to make a difference  - come and join our regular volunteer work team.

The volunteers work with Growing Communities' Grower Sara Davies to help produce organic vegetables and fruit on our three small market gardens in Hackney.  The produce is sold through our organic fruit and vegetable box scheme.

The volunteer work team are essential in enabling us to grow vegetables in the heart of the city.  Anyone who is interested in gardening and growing can volunteer - no previous experience is necessary!  It's a great way of improving your growing skills and meeting other local people while making a real contribution to Growing Communities' aim of setting up practical, long-lasting alternatives to the current food system.

Alongside the volunteer work team, Growing Communities help to 'grow more growers' through our apprenticeship scheme. In 2007-08, Sara and Bruce worked our market gardens. For the inside story on how and what we grow there, check out Sara's blog. Sara became our Assistant Grower and is now the Grower. In 2008-09, Annie and Sean were our Apprentices, who are now working on a new site. In 2009-10, Sophie, Ida and Robin are our Apprentice Growers. We usually advertise for Apprentices in February or March; please keep an eye on our website around that time.

Joining the volunteer work team

If you would like to join the work team please come along to one of our Introductory Sessions. They take place from 9.30am until 11.30am on the first Sunday of the month (alternates between Springfield and the Allens Gardens) or the third Monday of the month, 9.30am until 11.30am (always at Springfield Park). Please wear old clothes and sturdy shoes and bring a packed lunch.

2010 dates

The first introductory session on a Sunday will at Springfield Park on Sunday 7th February, starting at 9.30am.

Please email to let us know if you are planning to come along so that we have an idea of numbers.

Introductory Session Dates for 2010

Sunday 7th Feb - Springfield

Monday 15th Feb - Springfield

Sunday 7th March - Allens Gardens

Monday 15th March - Springfield

Sunday 11th April (not the first Sunday of the month as first Sunday of April is Easter Sunday!) - Springfield

Monday 19th April - Springfield

Sunday 2nd May- - Allens Gardens

Monday 17th May - Springfield

Sunday 6th June - Springfield

Monday 21st June - Springfield

Sunday 4th July - Allens Gardens

Monday 20th July - Springfield

Sunday 2nd August - Springfield

Monday 18th August - Springfield

Sunday 5th September - Allens Gardens

Monday 20th September - Springfield

Sunday 3rd October - Springfield

Monday 18th October - Springfield

Sunday 7th November - Allens Gardens

Monday 15th November - Springfield

Sunday 5th December - Springfield

Monday 20th December - Springfield

After having done an introductory session, you can come to either the weekday or weekend volunteering.

Weekday volunteering

The main volunteer work team sessions take place every Monday from 10am till 4pm and every Tuesday from 10am till 4pm.

• The Monday work sessions take place at the Springfield site.

• The Tuesday work sessions take place at our Allens Gardens site.

Weekend volunteering

Volunteer work team sessions also take place on the 1st Sunday of each month (except January) between 10.00am and 4.00pm. These Sunday workdays alternate between our Springfield and Allen Gardens sites i.e.:

1st Sunday in Feb, April (see above), June, August, October, December: Springfield

1st Sunday in March, May, July, September, November: Allens Gardens

More on our volunteers.

Back to top

Visiting our Market Gardens 

You are very welcome to visit our sites when we are working on them during the week.  We have designed a tour of the gardens which enables visitors to explore the sites by themselves while enabling our grower and volunteer work team to get on with their important work of growing food!  Of course you could just come to sit down and absorb the atmosphere - we think the gardens are beautiful as well as productive spaces.    

You will definitely find us at our Springfield site on Mondays between 10.00am and 4.00pm and at our Allens Gardens site on Tuesdays between 10.00am and 4 p.m.

Arrange a school visit

We run school visits on Mondays.

A one hour school visit includes:

• A tour of the site

• A growing related activity

• Resource materials to take away

• Use of eco-building (with composting toilet)

We charge a fee of £30 for up to 15 children and £60 for between 16 and 30 children.

Give us a call or email if you would like to arrange a visit.

Enquiries and FAQ

Can we come and visit?

You will definitely find us at our Springfield site on Mondays between 10.00am and 4.00pm and at our Allens Gardens site on Tuesdays between 10.00am and 4 p.m., except on the first Tuesday of the month when we are at Clissold Park. There is a self-guided tour. The Growers will be there but will be busy harvesting salads for our box scheme. If you want to talk to our Growers more about the garden and growing, come to one of our Open Mornings. You can see another one of our projects, the Stoke Newington Farmers Market, in action every Saturday 10 a.m.-2.30 p.m. and you can talk to the Market Manager there (ask for her at the coffee stall).

Can we visit the Box Scheme?

Journalists, please email us. Because we’re on a very tight deadline every week, we’re afraid that we can’t have other visitors.

Can you run a stall at our event?

If the event is in Hackney, then probably yes - if we are able to staff it. Please email for further details. If the event is in Central London, then possibly, please email with details. If it is outside of London, then probably no. As a not for profit organisation, we don’t have a budget to attend events where organisations need to pay for stands. We need as much notice as possible!

Can you come and speak at our event?

If it is relevant to our work, then possibly, depending on our current workload. Again, we need as much notice as possible: if it’s in a week’s time, then probably not.

Where can I get organic supplies?

See our links page.

See our links page.

 It would be better for you to order from a wholesaler. See our links page.

Can we work with you on a school or estate project?

At present, we don’t have the capacity to take on new projects

As you can imagine, we receive a lot of requests and we can't meet them all - we all work part time and we don't have an Information Officer to deal with such requests. You can find a wealth of information on our website, our principles, manifesto, Food Zone and press page are good starting points.

We are currently running a replication programme for 2 other organisations wanting to set up a box scheme. It’s possible that we will be running this again in the future; if you are interested please email us.

How did you set up your sites? How can I get land?

Please see our background page.

We advertise for new apprentices in January or February. Please check our news and events page around that time.

Please see our news and events page

Back to top

growcomm@growingcommunities.org