Diggin It!
Welcome to Diggin It!
Diggin It is an award winning organic gardening project in Plymouth. It is a community garden growing and selling vegetables, fruit, herbs and flowers, on unused allotment land that has been made available by Plymouth City Council.
Diggin’ It welcomes a wide range of volunteers and participants and brings together a varied mix of individuals who share working and learning about growing their own healthy food.
Everyone can get involved in all areas of work within the garden. Experienced staff are always on hand to help new or novice gardeners!
Ethos
The overriding aim of the project is to provide an environment that will benefit a range of vulnerable or socially disadvantaged people, helping them to become better integrated within the community and bringing communities together.
Those involved with Diggin’ It have gained skills and confidence, self-esteem and self-sufficiency; some have become ready for training or work, enabling them to participate more fully in society.
Diggin It provides participants with an awareness of growing and producing their own healthy food as well as reducing waste through composting and recycling.
Funding
The Big Lottery Reaching Communities programme has funded Diggin’ It over three years to cover all our setup, revenue and capital costs. After this time the project aims to be financially viable by programming and hosting a range of events, workshops and activities, and by delivering formal accredited horticultural and organic gardening courses.
Work with Diggin It
Diggin’ It provides a welcoming setting for a wide range of beneficiaries. These currently include people from a variety of backgrounds, including refugees, people with mental health issues, learning disabilities, a history of drug or drink problems, young offenders and long term unemployed.
Young people excluded from school also attend the project, teaching them about commitment and respect at the same time as allowing them to express themselves out of the classroom environment.
School groups regularly attend Diggin’ It learning about many different aspects of organic growing. From sowing seeds, propagating, nourishing and nurturing plants to digging and building beds and making compost to feed the soil, a wide range of activities linked to the national curriculum enable children and young people to reconnect with the earth and where their food comes from.
Testimonials
Quotes from beneficiaries that have been attending Diggin’ It have reported their feelings in different ways:
“It gives me something to do and fills up my day, I don’t know what I’d do otherwise” – MC
“It’s well cool at Diggin’ It, I want to be a gardener when I leave school” – SL
“I like getting outside a lot” – GD
“I like clearing overgrown land” – AP
Quotes from some of the agencies that have referred their clients to Diggin It have reported the following:
“We can really see a massive difference in A. Just being part of a team, getting out there and being active with other people has been fantastic for him, not only the physical exercise but the social interaction he’s getting”. – MBF
”He’s really enjoyed himself, coming back and saying what he’s achieved that day – it’s giving him a real buzz, a real sense of achievement and satisfaction” – SA
“At the beginning they started off really cocky, saying things like, "why should we do this for nothing?” – but then a bit later, after they’ve had a look round and seen what it’s like, they’ve thought, “oh, actually, I wouldn’t mind coming here after all”. Then they come back, feeling great because they’ve done a real hard day’s graft and they’re full of it!” - JC
