We help children, grow
Rooted in kindness, cultivating success
We work with children and young people in their educational setting, be that mainstream, special education or alternative provision. Children who work with us feel empowered by their success in the garden. This can help them to re-engage in their education and being at school.
What
Allotment Education is a therapeutic and educational intervention that teaches children and young people how to grow food. Our intervention also helps people to understand the positive impact on their mood when gardening. We bring organic food production into the heart of school together with wildlife enhancing floral displays. Allotment Education delivers focused horticultural sessions to children and young people in their educational setting, whilst bringing the whole school together in the annual tomato takeaway.
Why
With anxiety, low mood and behavioral challenges soaring post pandemic, the need to integrate the therapeutic effects of nature into the school landscape has never been greater. Children who struggle with the traditional mainstream approach to learning, often flourish on the allotment. Experiencing success can be the first step to re-engaging in education. By embedding the knowledge of food production and well-being into the school landscape children learn valuable life skills and open their minds to alternative career opportunities.
About Us
We help children to grow organic vegetables in their school grounds no matter how urban. Then we send them home with plants that they have grown from seed. Based in Nottingham, Allotment Education is a Community Interest Company dedicated to improving the lives of people through plants. Founded by Anna Bond in 2023, after 12 years of working independently in schools across Nottingham, Anna incorporated the business into a CIC to secure the mission beyond her working career.
How
We initiate and maintain school vegetable and flower gardens with the help of your children. Dependent on the school and the children’s needs, this may be as compact as garden pots, raised beds or even a full-scale allotment. Working in small groups or 1:1, we visit your school and run workshops throughout the day. Typically for one day a week, though there is no limit. We work throughout the school year, 39 weeks, delivering the same core content regardless of the season. We have created a 12 week syllabus that enable us to do this. We guarantee that every child, if they follow the 12 week programme will gain knowledge an experience in the following:
Where
We create productive vegetable gardens in the heart of school, no matter the size. We will work with you to find the solution of best fit for your school and your pupils. By understanding where the highest level of footfall is within an individual school, we can design and build a system that works on an individual school basis. That way, not only are children and staff exposed to vegetable production daily, but so too are visitors and parents. We have found this frequently improves the well-being of staff as well as pupils.