We have an award-winning Community Plot on-site (BAF Ted Green Award for Community Initiative). The Community Plot is facilitated voluntarily by plot holders, for local groups and individuals who want to learn how to grow vegetables organically & in harmony with nature.
Our Story so far …
The Community Plot was created by volunteers, and continues to be facilitated and developed entirely by voluntary activity. Starting in 2016, a group of 12 people with learning disabilities began to create the Community Plot, with support from the Royal Mencap Society, and plot holders.
The Community Plot is a ‘deep green’ organic project and we encourage users to take time to sit and enjoy the experience, learning about nature and the environment, as much as food growing. Volunteers have commented on how they feel refreshed, calm, happy and connected on the Community Plot.
In 2019 we consulted on the Growing Connections Project with the Centre for Aging Better and as part of this offered guidance and support to our buddy garden, at the Older Women’s Co-housing Project in High Barnet.
Click here to see a slideshow, which was shown at the Mencap AGM 2017 as part of the Community Opportunities Project (COPS), to an audience including the Mayor of Barnet.
Events and Training
Community Plot members are very active in the Annual Plant Sale, and also hold events, such as the Big Dig, and trainings.
In June 2023, we will welcome back Rasheeqa Ahmed for a session on hedge herbalism, and we will also host a Mayor of London event; a guided walk for the London Festival of Architecture, and we will be part of environmental artist Becky Lyon’s sculpture trail – follow us on Twitter to keep up to date with all the exciting things coming up : @community_plot
Volunteering Opportunities
We welcome volunteers who would like to experience the Community Plot, by joining in on Tuesdays. You will benefit from being outdoors/ learning or developing gardening skills, and will take home produce in season!
We also welcome plot holders who can help out with watering, and we are always keen to hear from anyone who has any ideas for further development.
To find out more, register with Volunteering Barnet : volunteeringbarnet.co.uk or go to the Volunteer Drop-in on Wednesdays 2-4pm at the Arts Depot in North Finchley.
You can also contact Les Moore directly for an informal chat: 07957 388033
Funders and Supporters
We have benefitted from generous funding for materials from a range of organisations: the Centre for Aging Better; Royal Mencap Society, Postcode Lottery, Barnet Giving, Kitchen Gardens International, Marks & Spencer, Magic Little Grants (in 2022 and 2023).
Money for seeds and sundries is raised through the Annual Plant Sale with Community Plot members growing most of the plants for sale and keeping the profits to re-invest in the Plot.
Many thanks also to the many Plot Holders who have volunteered to support the Community Plot.
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Thank you to Barnet Giving, for a £2,500 grant for the Community Plot disabled access. |  |
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Whetstone Stray Allotments received £2,000 from the People’s Postcode Lottery Trust for our Community Plot polytunnel, and an additional £1,000 for a Community Improvement Programme with the Royal Mencap Society |
| Whetstone Stray Allotments disabled access composting toilets were funded by a grant of £10,000 from the Big Lottery Fund. |  |
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Many thanks to the Woodland Trust for awarding our site a package of ‘wild harvest’: 100 native plants including, hazel, blackthorn, crab apple, dog rose and elder, for use in our hedging project on Holden Road field.
The Woodland Trust also awarded 3 fruit trees for the Community Plot. |