Food growing: a tool to engage your community!

FEVA Forum Exchanges - Food growing: a tool to engage your community 

Free event, lunch provided

May FEVA Forum Exchange will be held in Glasgow on Wednesday, 21 May 2014. The event will be co-hosted by Federation of City Farms & Community Gardens and the Glasgow Local Food Network and will be held at the Concrete Garden. This event aims to bring together people who would like to use food as a tool to bring people together and engage communities. The Forum will highlight a range of different ways this can be done by showcasing and sharing the stories of particular examples of good practice.

The programme will include the following themes which demonstrate how food can be used creatively to achieve a different aim or outcome:

The
• Foolproof food! How to grow food that works! ie the really easy stuff.
• Food as sustenance - eating what you cook on outdoor projects – experimenting and making food fun
• Food for celebration - learning about mixed communities and how you can organise events using food as focus
• Food as an educational resource – learning about new fruit and veg and how to grow them
• Food as skills share – building literacy and numeracy skills around food growing
• Growing food in small places - sprouting, windowbox food and herb growing

To book the May Forum Exchange please contact Tricia Burden on 01786 476170 or t.burden@tcv.org.uk. Places are filling up so book your place now by clicking here

Feva Forum Exchanges are free half day events facilitated by TCV Scotland for people working and volunteering in environmental and related sectors. Funded by SNH, each themed event provide opportunities for participants (30-40) to learn from each other, share experiences, network and overcome barriers to developing new areas of work. Feva Forums are free and lunch is provided.

Job Opportunities - Urban Roots and Drumchapel LIFE

The following job opportunities are currently available:

Urban Roots Manager - Urban Roots is looking for a highly motivated and experienced individual to take the organisation forward into its next exciting phase. Salary is £25,173 for a full time position (35 hours/week). Closing date: Friday 16 May 2014 More details on Good Moves website

Urban Roots Market Garden Coordinator - Urban Roots is looking for a motivated and experienced Coordinator to develop Polmadie Plots as a community food hub and social enterprise. Salary is £21,500 pro-rata for 21 hours/week (£12,900). Closing date is Friday 9 May 2014 More details on Good Moves website


Drumchapel LIFE Volunteer Coordinator (part time) - this is a short term project which aims to develop a core team of regular volunteers to the stage where they will have the capacity to run the Fruit and Veg Barra themselves. 224 hours in total, at a freelance rate of £12 per hour (roughly 8-14 hours per week). Closing date Monday 12 May 2014, 5pm.Interviews scheduled for Wednesday 14 May. Email
Veginout.drumchapel@gmail.com for more info.

Job Opportunity - Concrete Garden

The Concrete Garden are seeking to employ an Urban Growing and Community Development worker. The position is full Time - 35 hours per week and the salary is £25, 500. The closing date is 9am on Monday 10th March with interviews on Thursday 20th March. This post is initially for 1 year, with the aim to extend beyond depending on funding. The working hours are flexible including evenings and weekend work.

This post will support the community of Possilpark and transform the area behind the new Health and Care Center on Saracen St into a community growing space, urban meadow and gym wall in partnership with NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde Health Board and the Forestry Commission - the Green Exercise Partnership; Jobs and Business Glasgow; and Friends of Possilpark Greenspace

This is a ‘stalled space’ project which means that in the future if there is application to develop and build on this land all the main elements and investment can be move to another vacant ‘stalled space’ site in the Possilpark area.

Applications can be emailed to mo@concretegarden.org.uk or posted to Concrete Garden, The St Matthews Center, 200 Balmore Road, Glasgow G22 6LJ.

More info here.

Next GLFN meeting

Next meeting:

6.00 – 7.45

Tuesday 4^th March

The Boilerhouse, Hidden Gardens, Albert Drive

All welcome! Come along for a quick pancake from 5.30 – 6, before the main meeting starts.  Bring a filling.

Agenda includes:

- Glasgow Sustainable Food City update

- Planning for Empire Cafe event in July

- Planning for FEVA event in May

- GLFN film update

- Feedback from GLFN structure survey

Job Opportunity - Nourish Scotland

Come and join the Nourish office! Nourish Scotland is reconnecting producers, growers, retailers, consumers and all who care for local, sustainable food in Scotland. It is working to create a stronger food culture to make healthy, local, seasonal, and organic food available everywhere in Scotland.

Nourish has vacancies for a Communications Manager & the Edible Edinburgh Development Officer, both posts are part time for a year, closing date Monday 3rd March. Full details are on their website.

They are also looking for a student to join us through the Third Sector Internship scheme, to help us plan this year's conference, over the summer.  Closing date Friday February 21st. Full details on their website

Spring Get Together, Seed Swap and GAF Potato Day - Sun 23 Feb 2014

Once again the Glasgow Local Food Network are teaming up with the Glasgow Allotments Forum to run the Potato Day and Seed Swap which will take place from 11am to 3pm on Sunday 23 February at the Pearce Institute in Govan.

GAF will order in sackloads by the tonne of loads of different varieties, from the household names to the uber-obscure.

GLFN will host a seed swap table, starting with donations from kosher seed companies - but really we want you to bring your locally saved good seed stocks to swap and share with other local growers across glasgow.
 
There will also be a programme of workshops throughout the day for sharing skills and knowledge.

You can find out more about the Potato Day including a wee bit of background, details of the suppliers who will be coming along and a full price list of seed potatoes and other things that will be available on the Glasgow Allotment Forum website. See-d you there!

Job opportunities

There are a couple of job opportunities on the go at the moment...

Partick Housing Association currently have an opportunity for a part time Horticultural Support Officer. The post is for 21 hours per week and is funded by the Big Lottery Fund until October 2014. The deadline for receiving applications is 12 noon on Friday 17th January 2014.  Interviews will be held on Tuesday 28th January 2014. More info on their website.

Lambhill Stables  are looking for a Community Gardener to work hands on and manage volunteers in the 1 acre community garden on a daily basis. The post is full time and the deadline for applications is 5pm on Friday 31st January. More details on their website.