Abundant Borders
Abundant Borders works within our community to create a network of community food gardens across the Scottish Borders. The community food gardens are a training base for people to learn how to grow food in a sustainable way and then how to turn that food into healthy, inexpensive meals. Our aim is that everyone, regardless of personal circumstances, should have access to healthy, nutritious food. That is a pretty bold mission, but over the past three years we have been able to achieve much more. We believe that we have developed a model which has the power to transform the lives of individuals and communities and to tackle social isolation. From a practical point of view, we teach up to 15 people at a time the skills needed to grow their own food. Many don't have access to garden space, so we base the training on a piece of community land. These small pieces of land, previously underused or derelict are turned into productive use for community benefit. Knowing how to grow food is only part of the picture so we then teach how to cook healthy, inexpensive meals from the food grown or sourced locally. The final piece of the jigsaw is long-term support for participants, volunteers and the community. Having created a community food garden as part of the food growing course, participants can stay engaged with and continue to work in the garden. Some of the people involved have little hope of full or even part-time employment so access to local volunteering opportunities is crucial.
Head office:
1 Berry Bank Farm, Reston, TD14 5LU
Local authority coverage: