What is Sprout There!?

We have an organic allotment project in Wanstead, East London. This horticultural employment and training programme is called Sprout There! It offers participants an opportunity to grow their own food and learn how to cook it. Established in 2010, Sprout There! attracts a diverse group of people, all of whom enjoy various aspects of horticulture from seed sowing to eating crops they cultivate.

Why is Sprout There! so important?

People with learning disabilities face enormous challenges when trying to live more healthily. For many, sedentary lifestyles and poor nutritional health, combined with low incomes and social exclusion, lead to obesity or low weight and shorter life expectancies.

For many service users, processed foods and fizzy drinks at meal times are the norm, and changing attitudes to diet can be difficult. In these circumstances, gardening can be a great way to introduce people to the provenance of food, and the enjoyment involved in growing and eating it.

At Sprout There! we have regular fruit and vegetable identity quizzes, and we link the produce we grow to healthy recipes. We then cook and sample the food according to the recipes, and rate it for taste and nutrition. 

How do I get involved?

Sprout There! operates from Tuesday to Thursday and can be booked separately or as part of our daytime Out There! programme. Contact Us!

    

 

From Plot to Plate

We run an activity called 'From Plot to Plate' where our members learn how to harvest the fruit and vegetables from the allotment, and then they prepare fresh, healthy, delicious meals. 

  

  

What do our members think?