Volunteers working among vegetable beds and greenhouses in a community garden.

Fresh vegetables for every food bank parcel

Growshare turns spare land in Leicester into vegetable plots, and gives everything it grows away.

Our mission

Volunteers kneeling to plant a flower bed beside a brick wall.

Food banks are brilliant at tins, pasta and cereal. What they rarely have is anything fresh. Since 2019 Growshare has borrowed corners of church grounds, school fields and one old bowling green, dug them into vegetable plots, and delivered the harvest every Thursday.

Everything is grown by volunteers, most of whom had never grown a potato before. Some of them use the food bank themselves. Nobody asks, and the soup at lunch is the same for everyone.

Volunteer with us

How a plot works

Join a dig

Borrow

A landowner lends us a patch for five years or more. We insure it, fence it and bring the tools.

Dig

Volunteers build raised beds on Saturdays. A grower from the charity leads every session.

Grow

Potatoes, onions, beetroot, kale, beans and squash: things that travel well and cook easily.

Give

Harvested on Wednesday evening, delivered to three food banks on Thursday morning.

People gathering between raised beds in a community garden, with trees behind.

One person passing another a bowl of cherry tomatoes, both wearing gardening gloves.

Last year, in numbers

9.4 t

of fresh vegetables delivered

plots across the city

212

regular volunteers

£18

grows enough for one family for a month

Donate monthly

From the plots and the food banks

"Parcels with a bag of beetroot and a cabbage go out first. People ask for them by name now."Joanne, St Matthew's Food Bank

"I came for the food bank, stayed for the Saturday digs. I grow my own tomatoes at home now."Ravi, volunteer since 2022

"Our old bowling green feeds more people than it ever entertained."Margaret, Belgrave Bowls Club

Piles of broccoli, savoy cabbage, carrots, parsnips and turnips.

Cupped hands holding a heap of dark soil.

Rows of brown paper bags packed with food, ready to hand out.

Before your first session

Wear boots and old clothes: Gloves and tools are provided. So are tea and soup.
No experience needed: A grower pairs you with someone who has done it before.
Come when you can: Saturday 10 am – 1 pm, Wednesday 6 – 8 pm in summer. No rota, no guilt.
The harvest is never sold: All of it goes to the food banks. Volunteers can take a share home if they need it.