Gardening

If you live on one of our estates and want to create a new community garden to grow food, we can support you. 

If you do not live on a Southwark housing estate, you can still get involved in gardening and growing. There are also opportunities to volunteer at many community gardens in Southwark. 

Search for community gardens and allotments in Southwark on the Good to Grow map.

Find a gardening training or volunteering opportunity.

The Allotment Expansion Guarantee

The Council Community Gardening team can support residents who want to build and run growing spaces on council land. 

The scheme is called the Allotment Expansion Guarantee and is aimed at tenants, homeowners and leaseholders living in Southwark Council housing. It supports groups of residents who want to plan, build and run growing spaces on Southwark land with the help of Community Gardening Coordinators. 

For more information, email communitygardening@southwark.gov.uk or call 0207 525 1251.

When a new community site is developed, we consult with local people. Projects are resident-led, so a gardening group needs to agree to run and maintain the space.

Get started

You’ll need at least 5 residents to set up a new growing project.

The group will need to:

• manage the growing space
• maintain the growing space 
• allocate plots
• support individual plot holders 
• raise their own funds

Tell us your idea and where it can be located by emailing communitygardening@southwark.gov.uk. Tell us which estate you live on and where you want to grow food.  

You’ll need to find others in your community who want to join the gardening group.  

The Community Gardening team can then advise you on:

• how to build a group 
• support you with the different steps
• conduct a site visit to look for suitable sites
• support you with a public consultation 
• help with fundraising

New projects will become part of the Southwark community gardening network. 

Look out for our training and events for community gardeners.

Contact us

Contact our team.