Norwich FarmShare is a farm with a vision – to encourage community connection to the land and to each other. They raised £6,138 through the Aviva Community Fund to help continue supplying sustainably grown produce to Norwich residents.

It takes a lot of work to educate and empower local communities to be healthier and more resilient. Every day the FarmShare team are working hard to tend to their three acres, using ecologically-sensitive farming methods to grow around 50 varieties of vegetables. This produce is then distributed to a local network of FarmShare members, as well as providing heavily discounted veg bags to low-income households. And once members are provided for, the excess harvest supplies the local social supermarket and food banks.

The seeds of the idea were planted back in 2008, when a group of Norwich residents came together to discuss the failings of their local food supply. In the years since, FarmShare has flourished, gradually building up the member numbers and infrastructure to supply nutritious, chemical-free food to hundreds of local people hungry for change.

It’s a low impact way of farming centred around preserving the soil’s natural biology and the natural ecosystem. As FarmShare’s head grower Amy says, “We’re helping to encourage people to grow food in a more sustainable and healthy way. And in doing that we’re creating an environment that’s nice for people to be in, as well as creating food that’s healthy for them to eat”

The money raised with the Aviva Community Fund will cover a clever contraption called a paper pot transplanter which will speed up the planting of seedlings tenfold, along with a tilther that allows the team to prepare their soil with the least disturbance possible. 

FarmShare also invests funds raised into their Solidarity Shares programme so even more households that are suffering as a result of the cost-of-living crisis can enjoy locally sourced, all-natural quality veg.

As an endeavour that lines up with Aviva’s twin sustainability ambitions of promoting climate action and financial wellbeing in the community, many Aviva colleagues have chosen to use their volunteering time helping out at the farm. 

Amy explains, “Volunteers are incredibly helpful in making sure that we can grow more food than we need, so we can pass on the benefits of the healthy veg that we grow to people who might not be able to access them otherwise.”

Does your cause support financial wellbeing or climate action? Apply to the Aviva Community Fund today and you could get your donations doubled.

Funding is available for organisations looking to raise up to £50,000 and eligible causes can apply at any time.