Frome Field 2 Fork CIC

Location: Whitemill Lane, Frome

What do you do? Our vision is of a happy, healthy and resilient community that knows the value of local food and works together to provide healthy food for everyone, with care and respect for both people and planet. Our mission is to co-create an accessible, inclusive and ecological growing space that reconnects and re-skills our community, while helping to regenerate our local food systems.

When do you meet? 

• Growing Food & Friendships: Tuesdays 10am-3pm, adult session supporting wellbeing through growing and cooking food together.
• Growing Skills: Thursdays 10am - 3pm, adult session - learning ecological growing and land management skills.
• Growing Strong: Sunday 11am - 3pm, family friendly session - playing, learning, growing and cooking food together.
• We also run one-off activities, workshops and events; these are advertised on our Facebook page. 

Who can join? We would love your help - volunteers are welcome in all aspects of our organisation:

• Our community market garden
• Design and planning
• Communications, finance and fundraising
• Workshops, cooking, etc.

Is there wheelchair access? Please contact us if you have accessibility needs.

Contact details: Phone Caroline on 07857 437 608 if you'd like to get involved or email fromefield2fork@gmail.com. Telephone contact is encouraged before visiting the site.

Growing Grants showcase - Caroline Wajsblum, Director, reports:

Growing Grant: The grant was used to increase the capacity of the community growing site, to run regular growing activity sessions and for the purchase of a new polytunnel.

Well-being sessions: In 2021 we ran pilot sessions and 29 activity sessions with 77 participants in total (there were 33 unique adult participants and 12 children). 80% of people returned three or more times.

Our Tuesday ‘Growing Food and Friendships’ session focuses on mental well-being, and our ‘Sunday Green Gym’ focuses on physical well-being.

Group sessions are free and run on a 'drop in' basis to offer flexibility, although regular attendance is encouraged. We also receive referrals from Mendip Health Connections and signposting from 'Frome Green Well-being' (a new partnership in Frome including ourselves, The Walled Garden at Mells and Shared Earth Learning).

Session activities included building no-dig vegetable growing beds, clearing overgrown areas, scything, weeding, planting perennials, harvesting fruit, nuts and flowers, building composting bays, learning about ecology and horticulture, discussions on design, wildlife surveys, picnics, fires, shared meals and many cups of tea!

Meeting local needs: The main need was from people experiencing isolation, loneliness and mental health issues and the need for learning opportunities. People really appreciated coming and spending time on the land, reconnecting with community, sharing their troubles, learning new skills and being physically active!

Case Study: One regular participant, felt isolated in a new area after a difficult relationship breakdown and experienced mental and physical health problems. Since coming to Frome Field 2 Fork, she has found that regularly spending time in nature greatly improves her mood and her ability to connect with others, share her thoughts and discuss problems. Getting stuck into some safe, physical and fulfilling work on the land gives her a sense of belonging and purpose. She is keen to get more involved in the design process and project management. She is slowly building confidence, tackling family issues and starting to build a life again.

'We've learned a huge amount about the land itself, how we interact with it and maintain it, how it guides us to make decisions about design. We've learned that together we are stronger and have started to build a supportive community.'

Photos: Frome Field 2 Fork

*See the funding page for more details

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