‘Home Grown Community Owned’ Project

Community Council of Devon’s

‘Home Grown Community Owned’ (HogCO) Programme

The growing season is almost here! HogCO is an exciting programme that supports rural communities who want to grow their own – food, orchards, livestock, you name it! Funded by the Big Lottery Fund’s Local Food Scheme, HogCO is now working with over 20 groups all over Devon on new food projects.  We have been prioritising groups that involve people from all backgrounds and abilities, work in partnerships and are innovative in some way – that’s where you come in!  

We would love to work with your community and local landowners to find ways of using areas of land that are under-used, overgrown, around playing fields, next to village  halls, village shops, school or anywhere you think some productive planting can happen.  It could be a small-scale project to help get some fresh veg into your own dinner, or a brand new social enterprise – we are ready to help make your ideas a reality. 

In the view of Sophia Elek of HogCO, the largest obstacle to people being more involved in growing initiatives is a lack of ‘opportunity’.  HogCO offers this opportunity by offering advice, training and a forum in which people can share their skills and assets.  

So far we are working with groups that have started community orchards alongside their village hall, learnt how to make their own hives and now have bees, have turned overgrown plots into raised bed gardens for their housing estate to enjoy, or are planning how to turn National Trust land into a community farm.   We’re also offering practical training, networking events and 3 Toolkits – about addressing Planning, legal tenure and diversity and access issues.

HogCO is happy to work with your community – we could offer a ‘local food roadshow’ all about local food, host a ‘visioning event’ to harness ideas and commitment from local residents, or work with your group to decide what sort of practical help we could support you with (like a garden designer, planning advice or half a day contracted landscaping).  Anything to help to get your idea get off the ground!  HogCO wants everyone to realise just how much fun, and how important – for our health, our communities, and the environment – growing our own food is. 

See our website www.hogco-devonrcc.org.uk, email us at info@hogco-devonrcc.org.uk or give us  a call – 01392 383423.