A COMMUNITY initiative is set to launch a fundraising campaign in order to increase the amount of healthy and affordable food available to residents next week.

Wellington Community Food will start its crowdfunding campaign on Monday, October 21, which will run for six weeks with a target of raising £20,000.

The fundraising bid will be supported by the Aviva Community Fund which will match each donation up to £250 with a total commitment of £10,000 in matched funding.

A not-for-profit community benefit society, the project runs a community-supported agriculture project which provides delicious fresh-from-the-land vegetables to the area.

With the help of two contractor growers and volunteers, the society is dedicated to sustainable and regenerative agricultural practices as well as providing a programme of educational opportunities.

Wellington Community Food was established in 2022 with a mission to improve people’s lives by increasing access to healthy and affordable food, supporting sustainable farming, and strengthening the community through food and education.

Situated in the newly created green corridor which runs beside the town, the society had their first harvest in 2023, providing weekly vegetable boxes to their 17 crop-share members.

That year, the harvest yielded a total of two tonnes of vegetables, allowing the society to provide 414 vegetable boxes, a figure which has doubled this year.

Over the course of 2023, the group welcomed more than 400 visitors for society ‘open days’ alongside running more than 50 sessions involving volunteers on the land.

In 2024, Wellington Community Food doubled the area of land under cultivation from 0.5 hectares to one hectare which includes land for 'resting' as well as areas left for wildlife.

A representative of Wellington Community Food said: “We want to improve the effectiveness of how we work on the land so we can continue to provide food in a way that is kind to nature.

“We want to provide the best experience we can for our volunteers and further our education work with local schools.  

“We are really pleased with the success of our outreach to our local schools.”

So far this year, 790 school children have visited the farm across 22 school visits from all five primary schools in the town.

With more school visits lined up in the autumn, the society aim to have hosted 900 school children by the end of the 2024 season.

A visiting teacher said: "It was a really well organised visit. The activities were matched to the age of the children, and they learnt a lot.”

The group have already secured a partial grant for a volunteer shelter and workspace, a propagation polytunnel, and to improve the access to the field.

Donations to the fundraiser will contribute to ensuring these amenities are developed as well as enabling the purchase of a new tractor and a comprehensive set of hand tools.

The society have expressed that if the initial £20K target is exceeded, they will use the extra funds to invest in additional polytunnel equipment to extend their growing season, diversify crops and provide additional work for their volunteers.