OASES were successful in securing BBC Children in Need funding to deliver the Growing Together Family Learning cooking and growing after school clubs in 8 further schools. OASES supported families to develop school growing spaces in their school grounds so they could grow their own food to take home. Families that took part in weekly after school club sessions throughout the school year learning new healthy lifestyles skills together.
At each school families took part in garden volunteer days to create or develop the growing space that they would use. Throughout the growing season OASES staff delivered family gardening and cooking sessions where adults and children together learned how to grow simple home grown produce such as carrots, salads and tomatoes and peas and beans. Crops were chosen to be easily grown in raised beds or pots so that the activities could be replicated at home.
OASES gardening team staff supported families with harvesting their produce to take home along with recipe ideas for how to use them. OASES staff also delivered cooking sessions where the families got to cook and eat their produce. These were especially valued by families who were not used to home cooking and lacked skills and confidence in how to provide simple family food.
Following the Covid lockdown of 2020 we ran a virtual gardening club instead and delivered home gardening kits of planting bags, window boxes, compost and seeds. During the virtual sessions growing techniques were demonstrated teaching families all they needed to know to grow salads and potatoes and peas and beans in their planting bags and pots.
