GREEN ADVENTURE

is a small charity based in South London which was started by local people in January 1995 and was successful in attracting 3 year core funding from the National Lottery Charities Board from January 1996.
The two main projects we are currently supporting are:

Assisting local people in setting up, planting and maintaining small productive green spaces, thus helping to build community spirit and enabling city people of all ages to make a connection with the natural environment and to become directly involved in food production and nature conservation.

Other growing food in cities projects being looked into as interest has increased dramatically.

1996 Target: To help start the Camberwell Green Community Orchard.

1996 Achieved: Camberwell Green Orchard and Leaf Community Gardens started,
started fundraising for Furniture Aid South Thames' Roof Garden.

Delivering the most local organically grown vegetables, fruit, bread and other produce to inner city people's homes, thereby supporting organic farming, reducing food miles, and, most importantly, improving health. The scheme runs as a self-help buying club, the sorting and deliveries done entirely by members. Any profits from this scheme go into the community orchard projects.

These targets were exceeded despite the fact that other projects were also taken on in 1996, like recycling, the youth projects, the green ventures library, etc.

1996 Target: 1100 boxes.

1996 Achieved: 1281 boxes and including organic bread and eggs.

Also some recycling collection already incorporated in the box scheme delivery
(this was planned to start in 1997).

1996 has been another exciting year for Green Adventure. It takes a special kind of person to be involved as a pioneering member in getting together such an innovative organisation from scratch.

The management committee is composed of people of varied ages and cultural backgrounds, all SE London residents, some of whom have never had the experience of managing a new organisation such as GA, but were committed to learn.

We are very committed to investing in the training and development of all our staff, volunteers and M/C members and in 1996 we have been able to send people on numerous courses and several very inspiring and instructive conferences relevant to our work.

Two years later, having survived many difficulties as well as very many successes, I am pleased to say that we still have all of the original team with us. It has been a very inspiring and educational experience for
me and a great pleasure to be working with a group of dynamic and enthusiastic people who are committed to working towards sustainability within our communities.

In March `96 we furnished our new office very successfully on a zero budget, using recycled furniture, starting as we meant to go on. It wasn't until April that we had a full set of staff in post. Despite the late start and taking on some new projects, we find ourselves with several over-achieved targets and many possibilities ahead of us.

There has been a burst of interest nation-wide in growing food in cities, and there are many possibilities to develop more of these kinds of projects in the future, if we are successful in obtaining the necessary resources.

Green Adventure has also contributing greatly to the setting up of the new and exciting Battersea LETS.

The contribution that the local young people made to Green Adventure in this first year was as delightful as it was unexpected, and their drive, enthusiasm and originality has kept us
on our toes throughout the year. It would be great if this project was adequately staffed in the future.

I would like to thank everyone who made Green Adventure great this year.

Shortly after Green Adventure started, we were approached by Stephanie and Jim, a couple living on Peckham Rd, who were concerned about a piece of wasteland behind their flats. The land had been derelict for many years and was sometimes used for dumping. Although it harboured some interesting wildlife, it was in danger of being over-run with Japanese knotweed. Stephanie and Jim were keen to get together with their neighbours and turn the site into an attractive and fruitful community garden, whilst retaining its wildlife value.

The first thing we did was to help Stephanie to produce a short leaflet and questionnaire, to find out the views of other residents. The results of this were very encouraging, and the next step was to hold a meeting in a nearby venue. The residents were_clearly very keen to go ahead with the project, and several meetings later, plans had been drawn up to transform the site into á wonderful community garden, with orchard, herb garden, large pond, meadow and nature areas.

The residents drew up an ambitious work programme, with workdays every fourthnight. These have been very successful, and to date much clearance of knotweed has taken place, a large pond has been dug, paths have been laid and a number of fruit trees and bushes have been planted.

We feel that the success of Leaf Community Garden can be measured both in its value to the local environment - in transforming a piece of wasteground into a beautiful and productive community garden, and in its value as a community building venture - in enabling the residents to get to know each other through working together and creating a communal space to enjoy in the future.

We are indebted to Southwark Wildlife Trust, who gave the project their expert advice and assistance, including a wildlife survey and the loan of toots, and to Southwark Ecology Trust who donated £100 towards the cost of trees.

Planting started on Easter Sunday 1996: twelve fruit trees have been planted to date (apple, pear, plum, fig, cherry), many fruit bushes (gooseberry, rasberry, blackberry, red and black currants) and vines.

Pumpkin, parsley, runner-beans and nasturtiums were planted from seed, and also planted were corn, tomatoes, strawberries and many herbs including mints, thyme, sage, rosemary, etc. A hazel hedge was added this winter.

A fence was kindly donated by Southwark Council (who also own the land), and a noticeboard by the Peabody Trust. Funds for plants and tools came from local residents, jumble sales run by the children who planted most of the trees, and the Civic Trust Local Projects Fund. Thankyou to EVERYBODY for their kind donations and time.

In its first year, the harvest has been, apart from the strawberries, currants and tomatoes, a lot of fun for local people, and especially the children, who have been involved from the beginning.

It is this same group of children that have now formed the (first ever?) junior LETS scheme, itself a result of a recycling club which started with collecting paper to fundraise for the trees.

A lot of friendships grew here.

"I planted a blackberry bush and an apple tree with Kelly, Suraya, Shannon and Jodie. Before the orchard it was used as a dog's toilet and once somebody found a syringe there. Now it's a lot cleaner and it looks decent. I hope it's all grown when I grow up, with nice trees with allí their pears falling off."

Siobhan McKenzin, 1Oyrs old

A special THANKYOU to all the young people which really made it fun: Kelly, Siobhan, Suraya, Joan, Shannon, Dale, Lee, Mo, David, Karen, Cerise, Charlene, Joe, Craig, Ben, Massimo, Benny, Joey, Louise, Carly, Michelle, Maureen, Dean, Emma, Kevin, Kenneth, Kingsley, Keith, Joanna, Adrian, Gordon, Danny, Sam, Kieran, Samantha, Tommy ... nearly everything was planted by local young people.

Thankyou also to Steward Brown for making a bench out of recycled wood and for digging the compost hole and generally being a kindly orchard fairy, like Janine Lai, who was there at every work-day, rain or shine, and much loved by the children, and to Luzita Ball for doing a plant-survey, research and an orchard map.

The Green Ventures Box Scheme aims to supply the most local organically grown produce to peoples' homes, thereby improving health, reducing food miles (and the associated environmental costs) and supporting sustainable (organic) farming.

The box scheme started in April `96 with 10 members. Forty weeks later, it has a total of over 100 members and distributes around 70 boxes of organic vegetables and fruit per week as well as bread, eggs and occasionally honey from a local city farm, about a mile away.

Sorting and delivery of the produce is done by members of the box scheme - about 10 people have worked as sorters and about 10 as deliverers and they receive LETS currency or free vegetables and fruit in exchange for their work. Members of the box scheme have also taken on some of the admin work and production of a newsletter which gives cooking tips and infomation about the nutritional values of one of the vegetables or fruit on offer that week.

We also collect recyclables such as paper and cans (which we sell), plastic bags (which are used for the vegetables and fruit) and compost (for the community orchards).
This recycling collection is currently on a very small scale as we were not due to include this with the box scheme deliveries until the next year. Judging by the phonecalls we get, there, seems to be a great demand for collection of recyclables and we are looking for ways that we can most effectively help to meet that need. We would need a suitable nonpolluting vehicle, like a milk-float or, ideally, a horse and cart. Any offers?

Green Ventures differs from other box schemes in that it targets people on low incomes and aims to provide organic produce at affordable prices, through partpayment in LETS currency or by enabling people to help with sorting and delivery.

M. lives on a Council estate in Brixton and has ME, so finds it very diffcult to get out to the shops. She says the Green Ventures box scheme has been a godsend, as it provides her with a healthy diet and saves her from making exhausting trips to the shops.

S. has young children and lives on a Council estate in East Dulwich. She had approached another box scheme, but was told that they did not deliver to estates, so was very pleased to discover Green Ventures.

A recent questionnaire showed that 40% of box scheme members were unemployed and 50% described themselves as being on a low income. Currrently, nearly 50 % of members use LETS currency in part-payment for produce. A large proportion of these people joined LETS as a result of the Green Ventures box scheme.

In 1996, L 2,968 worth of trading was generated by the Green Ventures Box Scheme, with L 1,641 received and
L 1,327 spent in sorting and distribution: a net L 315 profit. These figures are equivalent to £ saved: L stands for Pecks (Southwark System) and Bricks (Brixton System).
The target number of boxes for 1996 was 1,100 and the actual number achieved was 1,281 boxes: 181 boxes over target.

LETS systems (Local Exchange & Trading Systems) are increasingly being recognised as one of the effective ways to regenerate the local economy and make services and resources available to people on low income, as well as stimulating community-building.

It has been shown time and again that having basics such as food available, greatly stimulates trading. This year we've had the pleasure of supporting the birth of the Battersea LETS, now already trading food on the scheme.

Around 30 people joined the LETS scheme through Green Adventure activities. The box scheme in particular proved a great incentive. They also helped to start off a junior LETS scheme which started by collecting rubbish for recycling in the Camberwell Green area.

Hugh Harris, an excellent DIY person on the Southwark scheme, saved us about £400 in repairs, plumbing and various metalwork for the office.

Green Adventure has had a successful first year as member of the Southwark LETS scheme, helping to boost trade with the Box Scheme and getting various useful things done like getting their office security improved, computer work done, office floor painted, sink installed, etc. We are privileged to have such a corporate group on our scheme, with such imaginative ideas and so interested in the future of the LETS scheme.
Sally Winter, Chair of Southwark LETS

All recycling activity this year was spontaneously started by our volunteers, with some collection through the box scheme.

Taking paper to the paper-bank using a buggy. In order to raise money for the orchard trees, the local children quickly established a paper collection round on their estate in the summer.
Squashing tin cans before bagging them : more energyefficient and fun than a machine.

"I planted a pear tree with Dale. In spring I'd like to have lots of flowers on the trees and in the grass. One day in the summer I saw some of my friends collecting paper with some trolleys on the estate so I went with them and we got lots of paper which was fun."

Jodie Glyde, 10 yrs old

Time and people-power are crucial for al¡ small charities, and volunteers bring these two most precious resources.

There is a very real but often hidden economic value to voluntary work : there has been a total of 1,351 volunteer hours given to Green Adventure in 1996. Even at modest £5 per hour, that works out at £6,757worth of labour generated by the local community.

This is why charities are extremely good value for money, as well as a good source of work-experience which builds confidence and well-being in a community : a real injection of wealth in the local economy.

We are hoping to be able to expand the number of volunteers we can take on in the future, and to give them plenty of needed individual support by employing a volunteer co-ordinator.

A business plan for GAYA, Green Adventure Youth Action was developed at the beginning of the year as we are very keen to help to "mobilise the vision, courage and passion of youth towards sustainability" Earth Summit Document (see p.4).

We were unsuccessful in our first attempt to raise funds to employ a co-ordinator for this project however, but then aquired a lot of young friends in the process of setting up the local orchard. The office is regularly visited by `our children' after school hours and it is clear that there is a great deal of untapped potential there.

The recycling scheme was started, organised and run by the young people themselves, as well as the fledgling Youth LETS Scheme now started in the Camberwell neighbourhóod. Severa¡ string-budget trips to Naturewise and Brogdale Horticultural Trust were also ehthusiastically attended.