Our story
Founded in 2004, Global Generation is an educational charity which works together with local children and young people, businesses, residents and families in Camden, Islington and Southwark. We co-create gardens with the local community and currently have 3 active sites in King’s Cross and Southwark. We aim to showcase how disused urban spaces can become an oasis for plants and people to grow.
We combine activities such as urban food growing, carpentry, cooking and eating together with dialogue, storytelling, creative writing, silence and stillness. These practices create the conditions for people to come together, reflect on who they are and what they are a part of and, from that space, practically contribute to ecological and social change.
Whether you're interested in food, art, nature, making things, sustainability or simply meeting other local people, we have lots of opportunities for you to get involved in. These range from weekly activities open to children and young people in our local boroughs, to one-off events open to all.
Some of our programmes include:
GARDENING CLUB: Leave the office, house or school behind and get your hands dirty helping our garden grow. Work alongside our expert garden team and fellow volunteers to learn about organic and nature friendly food growing in urban settings.
TWILIGHT GARDENING: Enjoy the wonders of wildlife on the water and get hands on with gardening, making and maintenance tasks aboard our wide-beam barge.
GENERATORS: Our Youth Leadership programme open to 10 -18 year olds in Camden, Islington and Southwark. They can explore how to bring about positive change in your communities and the world through developing their own social action project, gardening, eco-friendly crafting and more.
Our advice
Building collaboration with many partners is key. All of our sites are only possible because we bring together many stakeholders, the council, private developers, local residents and businesses. To create a green space on urban land requires many people to buy-in and when you successfully involve all those people, another kind of ownership emerges which is very positive. Each of our sites also hosts initiatives run by other local groups so there is cross-pollination and wider impact than we could achieve on our own.
It’s bigger than food growing! Although a big part of what we do is creating green spaces and growing food, our work is much wider and focuses on connecting people, strengthening community, health and wellbeing. We see these spaces as hives of activity and creativity where people can express themselves, learn skills and build confidence. When people feel connected and resilient, they feel inspired to get involved and lead initiatives in their local area.
Our metrics
250 kg of fresh produce grown and donated to our local food bank, with over 45 different crops from different cultures.
Number of school groups we engage with and sessions run.
10,000 individuals reached (5,000 directly through our programmes as a whole and another 5,000 who access our sites and events).
75 community growers have growing bed space in the Story Garden.
