Division of Land – a New Leaf Sustainability Ltd WW1 home front allotment project
This is a National Heritage Lottery funded community engaged heritage project for young people and vulnerable adults in Herefordshire and Worcestershire. Our project project focusses on growing food and community building through allotments, the benefits of working in nature during and immediately after WW1.
In Divison of Land we looked at sustainable practice in foraging, growing and cropping vegtables, fruit and trees from 100 years ago and how we can learn from that today. With two outdoor ‘lab’ growing spaces, a community allotment at Eaton barn in Leominster and a forest garden in Queenswood Herefordshire.
Who we worked with:
We worked with community partners running archive and practical growing workshops with:
1. The Adult with Special Needs ECHO group at Eaton Barn in Herefordshire
2. SHYPP the Supported Housing for Young People Project part of WM Housing
3. Hope support Services based within St Michael’s Hospice,
5. Herefordshire Council’s looked after children unit
6. Mind Hereford
7. Young people from South Wye in Hereford
We worked with archives based at:
1. The Hive Worcester
2. The Hereford Archive and Records Office
3. Hereford Library
In our activities we held workshops and visits to areas used during WW1 to crop timber by the Lumber Jills, from the Women’s Land Army.
1. Community allotment practical workshops with community groups, for them to understand and learn about the importance of growing food in WW1 and how to go about growing food for themselves now using traditional sustainable horticultural methods.
2. Archive workshops, where our project participants will create an exhibition using the archives to learn about the heritage and create an exhibition display. So that
3. A community celebration event and an exhibition of the participants work created and curated by them in our archive workshops.
A project funded by the National Lottery Heritage Fund
