Grow your neighbour's own

Find a helper for your plot

By Melanie Matthews

The Grow Your Neighbour’s Own project is a garden matching scheme for people who want to garden but don’t have a garden or allotment and those who have the land but want some help looking after it. We can find co-workers for allotment holders as well as helpers for people’s home gardens. If you’re interested in having a co-worker on your plot, why not register with GYNO? 

All potential gardeners are interviewed before making matches, and if you like you can work together for a season before registering them as a co-worker. We just ask that both parties are considerate of each other’s time and effort. There is no formal contract with the scheme (though your co-worker will have to register with the allotment team at the council) – participants come to an agreement about working arrangements and sharing the produce between them, though we can offer advice on this.   GYNO has helped facilitate some very successful allotment matches, and we’re looking for new plot holders to register. Here are some examples of previous successes:

• A woman who’s had her plot for years found she could needed some help doing some of the more physical jobs on the plot. GYNO found her a couple of co-workers to help and both parties have benefitted: the co-workers have learned loads from this very knowledgable gardener and the allotment holder received the help she needed on her plot. 
• One of the longest-standing GYNO matches was between a plot holder and a willing gardener who’s become her co-worker. The experience has been very positive for them both, they’ve become friends and made new friends and have learned a lot from each other. 
• Another successful pairing has been between an older plot holder and co-worker. The plot holder has had to move away from Brighton temporarily and having a co-worker means she’s been able to keep her plot and know that it’s being looked after while she’s  away

Need some help on your plot?  Contact Patti on 01273 431700 email patti@bhfood.org.uk or visit our website