Happy Summer and stay cool 🧊🧊🧊Hi all, We hope you are enjoying the summer months and long evenings. This newsletter, the Learning team are excited to get things rolling. If you’ve participated in any of the GCK learning programmes, you may have chatted with our Learning Coordinator - Rob, and Riham is our Educational Cooking Facilitator. We also have many other brilliant facilitators who you may have met along the way - Aimée, Jo, Levi, Capri, Bouchra, Elise and Rae. We’re lucky to have such a talented group of educators leading our sessions!  The Learning strand of GCK’s work aims to offer different educational programmes centred around food skills and politics - developing pathways towards livelihoods if learners want to. This has meant running programmes such as a Food & Film night series, an Introduction to Food Growing course, a Food Preserving & Processing course, a Level 1 qualification in Organic Horticulture, and more!  Quotes from learners 💬 We aim to facilitate programmes based on popular education, where: everyone teaches and everyone learns; using creative and practical methods; and importantly the starting point is the lived experience of learners. This fits with our organisational focus of agroecology, as we work towards collective action for change. In 2023 we began developing new workshops by speaking with over 100 people, including GCK staff, volunteers and patrons, community groups and schools - as to what they are interested in learning, how they want to learn, and if this was informal or formal qualifications. We’ve based our recent work on these discussions, so hopefully we develop learning programmes that people want to do!  Learning programme research report, by Riham and Rob After running 10 learning programmes last year, in 2026 we’re reviewing all the feedback we’ve received, making plans and fundraising for new activities. Thank you to everyone who participated and shared what they enjoyed and how we can continue to make improvements - this is really much appreciated so we can deepen the work we do! Below are some photographs from this year’s Introduction to Herbal Medicine course and the Grow Care Cook programme we run with local schools. Grow Care Cook supports participants to learn the life cycle of plants and to build practical skills in food growing and cooking.  📷 Grow Care Cook sessions with Islamia Primary School this year  📷 Introduction to Herbal Medicine course 2026 Keep an eye out for cooking sessions with families later this summer, and another Introduction to Herbal Medicine course in 2027! ✨ Highlights of this season ✨ 🌳 Welcome our 3 new Green Councillors in Kilburn! Suzanne Gallagher, Paul Ryan and Stephen Malonga were all elected as Local Councillors for Kilburn ward, which includes South Kilburn. They all pledged to support the Rec and try to help residents have more say regarding the continuing Regeneration in the area.. We wish them the best in their new role and look forward to working more closely with them.  3 new Green Councillors in Kilburn 🌾 Our Farm Hub Journey: 2024–Present Building a Community Farm Hub has been a dream for Granville Community Kitchen for many years, and we still can't quite believe it's becoming a reality! In 2024, we secured funding from the Esmée Fairbairn Foundation, which allowed us to build our initial farm team and officially begin the search for our dream site. We were incredibly fortunate to meet the Cherries, who share our values and our vision for a fair and equitable food system. Together, we're exploring a community-owned approach that builds new relationships between urban and rural communities, creates opportunities for people to thrive, and strengthens vital community infrastructure. Since signing our partnership agreement in October 2025, the project has gradually moved from the planning phase into early implementation. Looking back over the past two years, we're deeply grateful to everyone who has supported us along the way—through advice, encouragement, pro bono expertise, and collaboration. We hope this timeline offers a behind-the-scenes look at the journey so far and brings you along as the project continues to grow.  🥬 St. Luke's Church Farmer's Market is back! We're excited to return to St. Luke's Church Farmer's Market! We've loved spending Saturday mornings chatting with local people about our Good Food Box and offering fresh, delicious fruit and vegetables sourced from UK farmers, alongside freshly harvested produce from our community garden. Come and say hello 👋 We'd love to see you there! We'll be at the market on the first Saturday of every month, from 10am to 1pm.  Alex and Riham from the Good Food Box team 🧑🌾 Granville Community Farm Hub at Groundswell This year, our farm team attended Groundswell Festival as collaborators with Groundschool, the educational project run by our landowners, the Cherries. We had the opportunity to present the Granville Community Farm Hub, sharing who we are, why this project matters, and how it has been taking shape. It was a real honour to share our journey with so many people working towards a more just and sustainable food system in different ways. Groundswell brought together people united by a shared vision for the future of food, and we were grateful to be part of those conversations.  Our presentation at Groundswell ✊ Speaking Up for Granville Rec at Brent Council We spoke on behalf of Granville Rec at the first Brent Council meeting with the newly elected councillors. Around 20 local residents and supporters attended to show their support for protecting the recreation ground. Leslie spoke for five minutes on behalf of South Kilburn residents and Granville Community Kitchen, highlighting the growing threat to local green and community spaces as a result of the regeneration programme. The Council's response was that difficult choices have to be made and that the proposed 16 new homes are an important part of meeting housing needs. We stressed that, with around 2,500 new homes already being built across the area, potentially doubling or even tripling the local population. It is vital to protect the green spaces and community amenities that both existing and future residents will rely on. A huge thank you to everyone who has supported the campaign, both on the day and throughout this journey. We will continue to stand up for Granville Rec and keep fighting to protect this important community green space.  Supporters at Brent Civic Centre ⬇️ 🗓️ What's on 🗓️ 🍅 St. Luke's Church Farmer's Market
 🗓️ Time: The first Saturday of every month, from 10 am to 1 pm St. Luke's Church Farmer's Market is back! Come and get your organic fruit and veg fix with Good Food Box! Cash and card accepted - just bring a bag to put your goodies in! Garden Volunteering at Granville Rec  🗓️ Time: From 1st April, 11am-2pm every Wednesday; 11.30am-1.30pm every Saturday, through the growing season Garden volunteering sessions are coming back. 🗺️ Community visits to our farm hub site  🗓️ Dates & Time: 1pm to 5pm 📍 Location: We'd love to invite you to join one of our community visits this summer and autumn to the future home of the Granville Community Farm Hub in Hitchin, Hertfordshire. While the farm is still in its early stages, these visits are a chance to get involved from the very beginning, learn more about the project, and help shape its future. We will be travelling by minibus, but spaces are limited. If you're able to make your own way to the site, please let us know when you get in touch, and we'll send you the address. If you'd like to join a trip, please email farmhub@granvillecommunitykitchen.org.uk to register your interest. We also have regular community meals, yoga classes running every week. ⬇️ 🥕 Want a weekly organic veg bag? Get fresh, seasonal produce grown by small-scale growers across the UK and Europe — plus veggies straight from NW6!  🔍 Missed our previous newsletters?
📢 A message to our anonymous donors Over the years, we’ve received generous donations from people who chose to stay anonymous. If this was you, we would love to hear from you so we can say a proper THANK YOU 🧡! Please feel free to contact info@granvillecommunitykitchen.org.uk. Hope you're managing the heatwave and still finding time to enjoy the UK summer. See you in the autumn! 💐
Get in touch: info@granvillecommunitykitchen.org.uk The projects are partly funded by
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