£40k from Lloyds helps GROW to grow

Tuesday 06 September 2022

A community action project - which helps people who struggle to afford healthy food - is to benefit from a £40,000 grant from Lloyds Bank International, helping it to buy new machinery and expand its services.

GROW Jersey is a collaboration between Thrive Jersey, the Parish of St Helier, and The Good Jersey Life, and supports islanders by growing fresh fruit and vegetables, and raising awareness of issues such as the climate emergency, biodiversity loss, sustainable transport, and responsible soil management.

GROW says the £40,000 funding will fund an electric vehicle allowing access for those who would find it difficult to manoeuvre around the field easily, and transport large quantities of compost or mulch around the large site. The funding will also all the initiative to expand its reach in the next 12 months.

Andrew Le Seelleur, of Thrive Jersey,  who is a co-founder of GROW said: “This initiative has already enjoyed significant success in a short period of time, reflecting the innovative thinking of a core team and as a result of some incredibly hard work by an amazing team. The initiative dovetails perfectly with Thrive Jersey’s vision of identifying and nurturing a wide array of integrated community-based projects which share a common vision of improving lives within our community. We can only achieve our vision through effective partnerships and we are thrilled that Lloyds Bank have chosen to support GROW in this manner."

Pictured: Grow is based in an agricultural field on the St Helier/St John border. (Sheena Brockie)

Sheena Brockie, from The Good Jersey Life, another co-founder of GROW added: “We are delighted that the team at Lloyds Bank believe whole-heartedly in the Grow vision and the vast array of opportunities the site will provide over time. The project has sustainability at its core, growing food for the community using regenerative land management practices, improving soil and wildlife biodiversity whilst providing that all-important nature connection, a green lifeline to many people while combatting loneliness and isolation, especially post Covid.  None of which would be achievable but for the commitment and enthusiasm from the core management team.”

GROW is a community led action project aimed at addressing multiple social issues in Jersey. It says the current site will be transformed by planting, nurturing and harvesting a wide range of a fresh fruit and vegetables to be distributed to those in Jersey who do not have ready access to nutritional food, in a manner that supports regenerative agriculture, fights against biodiversity loss and creates a community supporting the physical and mental health of islanders. 

Alasdair Gardner, Islands Chief Executive Officer at Lloyds Bank, commented: “We are delighted to be sponsoring Grow Jersey in the important community work that they do and assist their ongoing activities. Sustainability within the Island is crucial and Lloyds Bank International is committed to supporting community-lead initiatives like this whenever possible either directly or via the Lloyds Bank Foundation for the Channel Islands.”

Main photo: (Sheena Brockie).