Built from sustainably-sourced wood, the newly-fitted kitchen allows cooking to be done in all weather and seasons, using fresh vegetables and fruit grown on the site. Avon Wildlife Trust has transformed the six-acre space into a thriving urban nature site with a wildflower nursery, wildlife ponds and planting, and sustainable community food growing. The alfresco kitchen will be used for Feed Bristol’s many Avon Wildlife Trust activities including seasonal celebrations, wellbeing and volunteer groups, and employee-engagement corporate groups.
AWT Feed Bristol site manager, Matt Cracknell, says: “We want to show that you can grow healthy food and at the same time support nature’s recovery, for instance by planting wildflowers for pollinators and using organic gardening methods. Thanks to our new kitchen, people can taste the flavours and richness of our fresh, sustainably-grown fruit and vegetables.”
At the heart of the site, the kitchen will be an important cross-over place for Feed Bristol’s varied community, wildlife and food-growing activities. The alfresco kitchen is available for hire, together with the indoor roundhouse and other parts of the nature-rich site, for private and corporate events.
The kitchen was funded by Enovert Management Limited, which granted £15,000 through its Ibstock Enovert Trust to help develop indoor and outdoor kitchen facilities at Feed Bristol.
“Enovert has been very supportive of our Feed Bristol site, helping us to develop our facilities and support disadvantaged groups since 2015,” says Matt Cracknell.
Staff from Bristol-based green energy providers, Ovo Energy, also helped with funding as well as volunteering on employee-engagement days. An additional £1,000 funding was given through Tesco Bags of Help – a scheme supported by money from the five pence charge levied on single-use carrier bags.
Avon Wildlife Trust’s Feed Bristol site - including our wildflower nursery - is open to visit on weekdays between 10am and 4pm and on the first Saturday of every month from Saturday 6th April to Saturday 2nd November. See more here
Enovert Community Trust and Ibstock Enovert Trust were set up to administer the Landfill Communities Fund on behalf of Enovert (formerly Cory Environmental).