Cultivate London

General information

Innovative urban farm and social enterprise based across multiple derelict sites in West London. We train unemployed young people in horticulture, and produce a range of edible and ornamental plants for sale.

Cultivate London has three main objectives:

1. To generate training opportunities and jobs for unemployed young people aged 16-24 in practical horticulture

2. To convert derelict and vacant land across London into productive food growing space

3. To increase the amount of local and organically grown produce consumed by Londoners

We aim to have a long term impact on the lives of young people and change the way Londoners think about their fresh produce and where it comes from.

In recognition of our efforts, we:

- Were named the 2012 Observer Food Monthly’s “Producer of the Year”
- Received the 2013 Hounslow Business Award for “Best Business for Apprenticeships and Employment for Young People”, and recently “Highly Commended” in the same category at the 2014 London Business Awards.
- Were runners up in the “Best Food Enterprise” category at London’s inaugural Urban Food Awards (2014)
- Have been featured in a number of local and national papers including the Metro, the Sunday Telegraph
- We have also contributed to research and been used as a model/case study by:

We have also contributed to the following reports:
- City & Guilds Skills Development Agency report, “Roots to Work” (2011) – MORE INFO
- Kingston University’s Green Business Bootcamp series
- Design for London (part of London Mayor’s Office) research into urban agriculture
- Rosario municipality in Argentina looking for innovative ways to integrate urban agriculture into their community
-Sustain: the Alliance for Better Food and Farming report “Future Farmers” (2014)