Crowd-Funding Helps Garden Project

Published by: The Media Trust

Date: January 14th 2013

URL: http://www.mediatrust.org/newswirefeed/crowd-funding-helps-garden-projec...

A charity is using crowd-funding to transform a former school grounds into a Global Garden.

The joint initiative by The Selby Trust and Spacehive aims turn the site at the Selby Centre into a culturally diverse food growing area with raised beds, fruit trees and a learning kitchen for cooking classes.

The site is located in the heart of Tottenham, in north London. Developers hope that the garden will encourage residents to share cooking tips and develop key enterprise skills.

Global Garden, Global Kitchen will also be featured on an episode of BBC's Inside Out on January 14.

Viewers will see Selby Trust chief executive officer Sona Mahtani explains why crowd-funding is essential to the project due to funding struggles in the third sector.

The Selby Trust's income is almost 80% self-generated, raised by working in partnership with community organisations and social enterprises.

Spacehive, set up by former Sunday Times journalist Chris Gourlay, allows the project to raise small amounts of money online to reach the £11,500 target.

Volunteer project manager Dexter Kelly said the project is "more than about growing food, it's about creating a legacy for Tottenham and a source of pride for our children in years to come".