December 15, 2025

BIG NEWS – Planning Approved! Now we need your help to bring it to life!

We are absolutely thrilled to announce that Planning Permission has been granted for our new Community Cook Studio and indoor classroom at The Southside Farm.
 
Special thanks to the brilliant work of the team @ Arbor Architects who worked so diligently through various project twists and turns over the last couple of years🙏🤗. We are looking to appoint a contractor in January and aiming at construction completion and opening in early 2027 – funding for this is in place thanks to StrongerHereford.
 
This building will be the heart of our work in South Wye, but a building is nothing without the people inside it.n We are currently putting together a major 4-year funding bid to the National Lottery Reaching Communities fund. This funding will allow us to run the activities that fill this space and the farm, addressing health and wellbeing and bringing our community together through food.
 
We would be extremely grateful for any feedback on our bid – would you use the facility, what else could we be offering, is there local need, what are the barriers to participation, would your organisation like to partner in any way with us? Also your supportive words would be extremely useful to the bid! 
 
Thanks so much in advance,
 
Lou
 

GROWING LOCAL REACHING COMMUNITIES – A REQUEST FOR YOUR FEEDBACK 🙏🌱

Growing Local CIC is developing an ambitious four-year community project designed to tackle health inequalities and improve wellbeing for children, families, and the wider community in South Wye and Hereford. We aim to bring people together through food – growing it, cooking it, sharing and eating it – and in doing so help build a stronger, healthier and more connected community. 

The project will offer subsidised activities and opportunities at The Southside Farm for families and residents of all ages which potentially will include:

  • A weekly youth club/youth cafe to support secondary aged children

  • Weekend and holiday grow, cook and eat sessions for children and families

  • Community gardening and cook workshops for all

  • Increased volunteer days and community days

The funding will also facilitate the launch of our Community Cook Studio (construction due to complete early 2027) which could offer the following income generating social enterprises to support the project’s long-term sustainability:

  • Pop up cafe days and restaurant nights showcasing our seasonal produce

  • Short community education courses – baking, seasonal cookery, preserving, crafting

  • Private hire for events and training

  • A catering and food processing enterprise, catering training 

Additionally we aim to partner with two South Wye primary schools to deliver a multi-faceted extracurricular programme to children and their families of key year groups, and enhance our current schools programme and delivery to include cook sessions in the cook school. 

Our project goal is to help families and individuals develop practical skills, confidence, and healthier habits that last a lifetime – while reducing social isolation, strengthening community ties, and supporting positive mental wellbeing. Additionally we are committed to enhancing environmental sustainability and aim to empower our community through education and action, focusing on reducing environmental harm and sustainable practices, while continuing to increase our farm biodiversity and provide therapeutic opportunities for better physical and mental health. 

We are now seeking feedback from local community members and organisations to help demonstrate the local need and value of this work as part of our National Lottery Reaching Communities funding application.

If you or your organisation supports local families or community wellbeing in South Wye or Hereford, we’d love to hear your thoughts on how this project could benefit our community, and how we might work together or complement your work. We welcome your suggestions on what we could offer, who we should be working with and of any barriers or challenges you foresee to participation or success. 

If you would like more information on the project please do give me a call or we can arrange to meet in person to discuss. You would be very welcome to visit the Southside Farm and ‘walk and talk’ our proposals. 

Growing Local is a Hereford-based Community Interest Company dedicated to inspiring people to grow, cook, and eat healthy, affordable, and sustainable food and connect our community with where their food comes from. For 16 years, we’ve worked with local schools, families, and communities to deliver hands-on education in food growing, cooking skills, and environmental awareness.  We believe that everyone should have the knowledge, confidence, and opportunity to eat well and live sustainably.

Thanks to Hereford’s Stronger Towns Fund we took over our 19 acre Southside Farm in 2023 to set up a market garden growing vegetables for a weekly box scheme and local businesses, a children’s education garden and field kitchen plus a community cook studio and indoor classroom (to be constructed in 2026; planning and capital funding are in place)