Women's Environmental Network Educating, empowering and informing women and men who care about the environment. Campaigning on environmental and health issues from a female perspective.
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Local activity
Local work with groups near our office in Tower Hamlets, East London, informs our national work. It includes fund raising support, help with publicity, providing stalls at events, encouraging exchange visits among local groups, distributing compost, setting up gardens and setting up compost schemes and providing training.

London Borough of Tower Hamlets
WEN’s office is in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, home to a diverse and vibrant community, over 58 per cent of which is from non-white British ethnic groups (2001 census). WEN has built up strong links with women’s groups and community groups in this inner-city London Borough. Since 1999 the food project has worked in Tower Hamlets with community organisations offering practical food growing support to groups of local women. For further background see History.

Groups we have been involved in supporting in Tower Hamlets
  • Cable Street Community Growers - A community allotment and garden. They are creating very special ‘living’ space and monitoring it despite many outside pressures.
  • Coriander Club - Based at Spitalfields City Farm, Lutfun Hussain, a Sylheti speaking support worker provides practical skills in horticulture. Free training in numeracy, literacy, English language and healthy cooking are also offered.
  • Jagonari Women’s Centre, Whitechapel Road - The Healthy Expressions project is exploring links between healthy eating and food growing.
  • Shadwell Busy Lizzies - 'Guerrilla' gardeners are growing on a housing estate in Shadwell, East London.
  • Stepping Stones Farm - An East London city farm with community food growing in specially designed large wooden crates.
  • TocH - a community centre in Limehouse setting up their own community garden.
  • Wapping Women’s Centre Community Garden Project - This is an inspirational project on a housing estate, that allows women to grow organic vegetables that originate from their homeland of Bangladesh.
  • U Turn Project - centre for vulnerable women in Bethnal Green with a garden which is partly being used by the women to grow vegetables.
  • Meath Park estate - raised beds installed at the youth centre for community groups to use for food growing.
  • St Hilda's East Community Centre - women's group growing food in beds by the centre's play area.
  • Somali Integration Team - Saturday gardening club for women and children.
  • Grove Greening Group - developing a small site with raised beds for residents to use for vegetable growing on the Adelina Grove estate.
  • Spitalfields estate - women's growing club using raised beds being constructed on land provided by the estate.
  • Thomas Buxton Junior School - setting up a school garden for parents of children at the school.
  • Arnhem Wharf School - small growing plots by the schools' playground which are tended by parents.
  • Central Foundation Girls School - started a garden during a citizenship day that is gardened by pupils and teachers as an after-school club.

For contact details for these groups contact WEN here.

Volunteer training programme
We are currently developing a volunteer training programme for women who want to develop their community development and/or gardening skills in order to provide regular support to new and existing community growing projects in Tower Hamlets. For more information watch this space, or email food@wen.org.uk.
Lutfun Hussain with produce grown by the Coriander Club at Spitalfields City Farm
Lutfun Hussain with produce grown by the Coriander Club at Spitalfields City Farm.
Cable Street community garden.
Cable Street community garden.

Local Networks
We are members of Women In Tower Hamlets Inclusive Network (WITHIN), which is co-ordinated by the council and brings together women’s groups from across the borough.

Living or working in Tower Hamlets?
If you are part of a community organisation in Tower Hamlets with an interest in food, or you are interested in establishing a growing group in the Borough, contact us here for information and support.

Other East London Work
We are also involved in a three year project of support for local groups in the London Borough of Waltham Forest, East London. This is through work in a national sustainability learning project Sustainable Production in Active Neighbourhoods (SPAN) which involves five other national organisations.

 
PO Box 30626, London E1 1TZ Tel 020 7481 9004 Email food@wen.org.uk