The main purpose of Torridge Growing Together CIC (TGT) is to ‘grow people’ through meaningful and sustainable activities such as community food growing, conservation and repurposing/upcycling items that would otherwise go to waste. We are based in the District of Torridge, which is a beautiful part of Devon but this can mask the fact that many neighbourhoods are among the 20% most socially deprived areas in the UK. There are high levels of homelessness; social isolation; food poverty; unemployment plus poor mental and physical health. Loss of local mental health provision and supported employment opportunities compounds the issue.

We address these issues through developing friendship and trust by working towards a common goal. We wish to empower people of all abilities to discover their strengths; develop skills and have a purposeful impact on their local area. Many of our volunteers are long-term unemployed, with additional needs such as physical/mental health challenges and/or learning difficulties.

We provide a safe, welcoming and inclusive environment where everyone feels valued, recognising that everyone has different skills and knowledge to share. We support people to access training and work experience opportunities, as well as developing our own peer mentoring system (Gardening Buddies). We also encourage creativity through art, craft and media teams.

We have weekly ‘Plan, Chat, and Learn’ meetings in Bideford, where we are also running a ‘Growing Towards Employment’ programme and offer support through 'TGT Assist'. We also work at several different allotments and support other gardening/environmental community groups in the Torridge area. Our longer-term vision is to be able to offer supported employment opportunities to those who are not ready/able to manage mainstream jobs.