Our Crowdfunder is now closed but you can still to donate toward this project on our website.

What is Grow Wilder?

In 2012, we took on an unused smallholding in the Stapleton area of Bristol, and volunteers and local groups transformed it into a community and food growing hub rich in wildlife, where people can reconnect with nature, learn new skills and improve their health and wellbeing.

Our mission now for Grow Wilder is to bring about urgent action for the restoration of wildlife by educating, upskilling and empowering people, communities and businesses to bring about positive change through wildlife-friendly gardening and sustainable food growing.

In order to do this, we want to establish a new community space by introducing a new building to the site. This will help to engage and inspire more people, communities and businesses to actively support nature’s recovery.

Through demonstration, learning and events, Grow Wilder will be a hub from which we will seek to connect people with nature, equipping them with the skills and knowledge to restore and conserve natural habitats of all sizes across the Bristol area and further afield. Learn more about the project on our website and download our information pack.

We have a fantastic opportunity to secure £750,000 of funding through the Landfill Communities Fund* for this project if we can first secure 10% through wider support. Help us get to £75,000 so we can unlock the rest. Then we can all soon benefit from what will be a nature rich, welcoming and beautiful, thriving wild space in the heart of our city.

Our vision for Grow Wilder

Illustration by Hannah Bunn.

Site Activities

Limitations with current site for achieving strategy

x Inadequate space to deliver education capabilities (1 small indoor classroom, poorly insulated and little natural light)

x No focused area for new visitors to the site

x Lack of interpretation and self-learning opportunities

x Inadequate toilet facilities

x Inadequate kitchen facilities for providing cooked food offerings Insufficient offerings to give a good visitor experience 

Benefits of a New Engagement Hub

Principles for a New Engagement Hub

• A new community amenity – a new building should provide a new meeting space and café for community use
• A hub for sustainable food growing – the new engagement hub should promote the benefits of sustainable food growing
• Promoting green travel – a new engagement hub should encourage sustainable travel, focusing on bike, pedestrian and public transport to come to site.
• Sustainable building – any new building should showcase state of the art designs for sustainability in both construction and use.
• Low Impact – visually, the new building should blend in with the site through a nature-inspired design. Impact to soil should also be minimized where possible.
• Accessible for all – Everyone is welcome to come visit, explore and enjoy the site.

What will the Engagement Hub look like? 

Welcome area

This will be a space to welcome our neighbours, local community and visitors to the site. We will be able to greet and teach people about what we do at Grow Wilder and help them get the most our of their visit.

This will result in more people learning and engaging with the site; actively finding out more about how the site operates and what they can do during their visit such as walking trails and wildlife ID.

Café

Having an area where people can relax and enjoy some of the food grown on site, we will be able to generate an active interest in local food growing systems and their benefit to people and wildlife alike.  

This will result in more people understanding importance of local food systems and change their behaviours after seeing food grown first hand, learning about importance of sustainable food growing and then eating that same food in one visit.

Shop

Visitors will be able to buy books, tools or discovery packs to help continue their sustainability journey at home as well as championing the produce of the small businesses that use the site. 

This will result in more people being able to take their next steps in food growing and wildlife gardening beyond their visit and small, local businesses having a new way to sell their produce to local people. 

New community space

A larger space at the engagement hub will allow for more education and community activities to take place on site, for all to benefit from. 

This will result in more people learning how to grow food, help nature's recovery in their own communities and more connections being built between people and groups in the local area.

We need your support to make our vision a reality.

Ways you can support us

• Donate what you can to this Crowdfunder.
• Select a Reward - there are so many to choose from!
• Fundraise for us - whether it's a sponsored walk or a virtual quiz night with friends, fundraising is a great way to get your friends and family involved. Take a look at our handy guide here.
• Corporate Sponsorship - get your team involved and reap the rewards.

For more information on fundraising or corporate sponsorship, get in touch with Laura, our Community and Corporate Fundraising Officer, at [email protected].

However you choose to support us, thank you! We can't do it without you.

* It is a requirement of the Biffa Award Scheme that 10% Third Party funding (i.e. not provided by the recipient) is paid in order to release the grant. Therefore, some funding raised through this campaign may be used as a Contributing Third Party (CTP) payment of 10% to the Landfill Operator to secure the full grant. ** If we are unsuccessful with this specific bid, all monies will still be used towards this project.

(c) Nick Turner