January 28, 2015
Twechar gets peckish
Todmorden in West Yorkshire has gained a reputation that extends far beyond these shores for being edible. Edible in the sense that every last scrap of land in the town is planted up with fruit and vegetables which are free for anyone to pick and eat. Food tourists flock to Todmorden from far and wide and some of these are so inspired that they return to their communities and start planting up small sites of spare land. Some, like Twechar in West Dumbatonshire, go the whole hog.
28/01/15
Since January 2014 a small group of local people have been working with Twechar Community Action and greenspace scotland to find new places to grow food in Twechar.
Together we have:
• found out what spaces in and around the village could be used for community growing
• used the community growing poster, guidance notes and local knowledge to decide what kind of growing could happen in the spaces
• shared the information with local people along the way (using Facebook and events)
• created an action plan to make it happen
• established two new community growing spaces
• created the Edible Twechar map with a graphic artist
Twechar now has a vision and an action plan for Edible Twechar which will be used to look for resources and funding to create more spaces to “grow your own” across the village.
At the same time as we have been developing the action plan and Edible Twechar map two spaces in the village presented themselves as “quick wins” i.e. where community growing could happen now. The volunteers supported by Twechar Community Action have already begun work here and hope to attract more community growers through regular activities in these spaces.
Edible Twechar has a Facebook page – visit it here
Download the Edible Twechar action plan and the map
Do you want to be the next pioneer growing community? Contact us here to find out more.