Big Lottery helps Camel CSA buy little red tractor

Isn’t it cute?! This is the new little red tractor bought at the Royal Cornwall Show for our community veg plot at St Kew Highway.

We sent a small team to the show to look for one, led by expert grower Mark Norman. They had such fun choosing it – a TAFE 35 DI classic, built in India.

Now we can’t wait for the tractor to be delivered.

It was paid for out of our £49,000 grant funding pot from the Big Lottery Fund’s Local Food Programme.

Thank you Big Lottery!

We’ve got plenty of Cornish community spirit

Camel CSA is strong on community spirit according to the Cornish Guardian, our local weekly newspaper.

It reports that our vegetable-growing co-operative is going from strength to strength now we’ve won Lottery and ECLAG  funding. 

We’re seeking to increase our membership and welcome new members living within a 10-mile radius of St Kew Highway to join our weekly veg box scheme.

Camel CSA secretary Mike Sadler told the paper: “Over the past two years we’ve learned a lot. The first growing season was a hard lesson; we had problems with the quality of the soil and predators such as birds and rabbits.

“The second growing year has been much more successful and we’re looking forward to inviting local schools and organisations to come to the site and learn the importance of growing produce and introducing them to healthy living.”

More pictures from our Lottery and EU funding launch

The sun shone on the launch of Camel CSA’s £60,000 Local Food and ECLAG grants.

Children carved pumpkin lanterns for Halloween while work continued on our first big polytunnel. Linda Emmett, manager of  the East Cornwall Local Action Group, presented us with our funding plaque. The Soil Association’s Traci Lewis, who has given us valuable support, was also a guest at the event.

Pictures: Shayne House

Camel CSA’s funding success makes the headlines

There’s been lots of media coverage about our Lottery and ECLAG grants over the past few days.

Camel residents grow their own – BBC News video

Green-fingered enthusiasts in north Cornwall are celebrating –  James Churchfield Show 28-10-10 – BBC Radio Cornwall 

Cornish vegetable home-growing scheme awarded £60,000 in grants – Western Morning News

Vegetable group wins grants – Cornish Guardian

Community Supported Agriculture near Wadebridge awarded £60,000 in funding – Wadebridge People

Community Supported Agriculture – words & pictures and that… blog

Watch all Camel CSA’s videos

Watch these videos about what Camel CSA does

These videos are about what we do and how we make local food work within our north Cornwall community. They were filmed at the Lottery and EU funding launch on our site behind St Kew Harvest Farm Shop at St Kew Highway.

David Wilcock of FoodiesSW recorded the first two videos on his smart phone. He also did own audio report of the event. Camel CSA member Shayne House videoed BBC Spotlight reporter John Danks as he was filming us.

Watch all Camel CSA’s videos

We’ve been awarded £60,000 from the Lottery and the EU

Camel Community Supported Agriculture members are celebrating success! Our growing-own-food scheme has won £60,000 funding.

We’ve been granted £47,984 from the Big Lottery Fund’s Local Food Programme and £12,484 from the East Cornwall Local Action Group (ECLAG) to help us expand.

The Growing Food, Growing People project will reflect our main aims: to provide fresh, seasonal local food, reduce food miles and to reconnect people with the land where their food is grown.

We’ll be offering social, learning and volunteering opportunities for disadvantaged and unemployed people in north Cornwall. They’ll find out how to sow, grow, harvest and prepare their own vegetables. This will happen during educational sessions and site visits that we’re organising in partnership with schools, charities and other local organisations.  

The grant funding will enable us to employ professional growers to cultivate the site and to provide advice and assistance to our volunteers. We’ll also be investing in three poly tunnels, a bore hole and water tank, irrigation system, sheds, a small tractor, rabbit-proof fencing and a variety of horticultural tools.

We’re launching our expansion today on our plot behind St Kew Harvest Farm Shop at St Kew Highway.