Grow Llangollen's first public event a great success

* People listen to one of the presentations at the gathering.

* Local food on display at the event.

* Refreshments made with locally sourced ingredients. 

Grow Llangollen’s first public event at St Collens Community Centre recently was a great success, say organisers.  

Grow Llangollen is a community group that has been established with the aim of increasing the quantity and affordability of cultivated crops that are grown in and around Llangollen, and to increase the amount of local produce sold in the area.

The project is funded by the UK Government through the UK Community Renewal Fund.

Around 35 people visited the Growing Local Food Forum throughout the day, to listen to and question speakers from Flintshare, Mostyn Kitchen Garden and ADAS Horticulture.  

Many attendees stayed for most of the event, enjoying the array of local food that had been provided, including some delicious soup made by St Collens' Fabiano Silva from vegetables from local producers.  

The day ended with a round table discussion about what actions would be most useful, and it was decided that regular get-togethers should be held to share ideas and support each other.

Grow Llangollen's Ros Stockdale said: “It was fantastic to meet so many enthusiastic people and find out about their ideas. We hope we can support the projects that people are planning.  One thing we all decided on was that we should stay in touch and meet regularly to help each other out.”

The group's next step is to visit Mostyn Kitchen Garden with some of the ADAS team for a growing workshop tomorrow (Friday October 7).  

Ros added: "This will be a great opportunity to see how things are done in a successful commercial and community garden and to take part in some practical demonstrations. The day runs from 10.30am to 3.30pm and lunch will be provided.  Anybody wanting to go should get in contact via the Grow Llangollen Facebook page, and we’ll organise lift shares.

The other crucial part of the work is doing, she said, is the surveys.  Separate surveys have been designed for:

Farmers and Growers:https://forms.office.com/r/kKzbDnDqUL

Local Businesses:        https://forms.office.com/r/2AVuJSvAgy

Local residents:          https://forms.office.com/r/ir4B4F114h

"The links to the surveys are also on our Facebook page, and there will also be flyers and posters around town.  

"We'd be very grateful if people could take the time (5 to 10 minutes) to complete one of them.  The more people that join in, the more useful the study will be in building a better project and attracting funding to support more growing."