We’ve been supplying Roots4Life, which works to equip people with the tools to live more healthily, with bulk bags of our Vegetable Compost and Mushroom Compost since 2023. Here’s a look at their work:
Roots4Life
Roots4Life was founded by a London headmaster who was keen to tackle the increasing issue of child obesity by ensuring young people had better access to green spaces and exercise. The philosophy behind the charity is simple – by offering access to a healthy diet, fresh produce and the skills to grow and harvest food (from plot to pot) there’s the opportunity to transform lives.
By opening up the Roots4Life scheme to the whole family with a community fridge, regular activities and a monthly community meal, brings with it the chance to educate and equip children, and their families, with the skills to help them improve their diet and overall health.
The charity, which works closely with a range of community funding schemes including the National Lottery, Royal Borough of Greenwich, Mayor of London and The Worshipful Company of Tallow Chandlers among others, is based on an 8.6-acre site in South East London. As well as growing beds and a polytunnel which can hold a class of up to 30 children, the site includes a teaching kitchen, rewilding area, meadowland, orchard, trim trail, grass amphitheatre and wildlife pond. Regular activities include community gardening sessions, cooking lessons including on a budget and healthy meals, homework clubs, pilates, and yoga.
Earth Cycle and Roots4Life
Sophie Amos, Manager at Roots4Life, was keen to ensure that anything being used to grow food was top quality, peat-free and could be delivered in bulk to reduce packaging. Having discovered Earth Cycle composts in 2023, she was impressed with the success of the fruit and vegetables produced last season. Her knowledge of agriculture – coming from a family of fifth-generation Kentish hop farmers – also meant she knew a quality product when she saw it! This year, when the time came to restock and refresh the on-site raised beds before the growing season began, Sophie worked with the Earth Cycle team again to arrange a delivery. Given the access arrangements at the community garden, Sophie and her team also found the Earth Cycle delivery process easy and helpful, with good communication about when and where the bulk bags would be delivered to the site.
The team also found a way to reuse both the bulk bags which the compost was delivered in, and the pallets which they were shipped on. The bags are now used for conservation tasks, to help collect brambles and weeds from across the site. Any green waste is being used to create small compost areas, which can help the team to become more self-sufficient in future years. The pallets have been repurposed into benches and outdoor furniture by a team of individuals who work on the site as part of their community service or probation work. This group are part of a Comic Relief-funded project on mental health, which seeks to offer opportunities for those who have offended, and who are being supported to develop mental health resilience. There’s proven research that working in green spaces, and being part of a growing food initiative can offer an effective and alternative source of therapy – something the Roots4Life team is delighted to support.
To find out more about this incredible charity, community garden and corporate volunteering events visit the Roots4Life website.
Work with us
If you would like to work with Earth Cycle or are a charity looking for support in all things gardening and landscaping, feel free to get in touch, we would love to hear from you!
