Work with us

Collaboration & Event Guidelines

Thank you so much for your interest in working with NGC. We genuinely appreciate every email and collaboration request we receive, and we are always delighted to connect with like-minded organisations and funders.

We are a small, grassroots, volunteer-run community group. That shapes how we work and, local providers say we're good it.

Who We Are

NGC is a community group rooted in the values of care, hospitality and service. Our founding team is Muslim, and that shapes the spirit of the space, but our garden and our sessions are for everyone.

We are based in Waltham Forest, London, and we grow, learn and connect on community garden land. Our members have always been mostly British White, who are always welcome and at home here, and now we are assisting the Council and London. Ased organisations to reach marginalosed communities, as we are from them. We find gardening is an amazing way to build community relationships, due to the friendliness and warmness found in gardeners.

Our Operational Model

Our regular workshops are held exclusively for women, and taught by female instructors. As this is a requirement from the Islamic perspective, we have found our attendees who are mostly non Muslim, really appreciating women-only sessions.

We give BPOC women a space to speak openly about their culture and history, to use their mother tongue, and to have translators on site where possible.

Our sessions are music-free and alcohol-free.

We do not accept lottery funding, in line with our founding values.

We also run activity-specific sessions for children, such as children's workshops. These run similar to many scouts groups, where older boys and girls have their own groups. This also means eg at a girls session it would be a female guardian.

Last year, we were approached by various organisations to run Men's Shed sessions, prompted directly by the rise in severe mental health challenges following lockdown (hence the popular free sessions for fathers at Lloyds Park, where we learnt the importance of this). In response, we are offering a very limited number of these workshops, mostly due to lack of funds, partly due to men lacking free time. If you would like to collaborate with us on this, whether it is supplying wood, screws or funds, please get in touch.

Our Approach to Photography

We don't take photos of people, animals and insects. Hence our sessions are generally photography-free. There are so many reasons why not to photograph people: adoption, personal reasons, religious reasons, AI and more. You are free to ask us more about this at any time! 🌿

Small Team, Real Reach

We don't have the resources that large organisations do. What we do have is deep roots in our community, lived experience of the issues our members face, and the flexibility to respond to what's actually needed on the ground.

That flexibility is not a weakness, it's why our outreach works. We organise week by week, checking in with the health of our workshop leaders and volunteers. If someone is struggling in extreme heat or cold, we adapt or cancel. That responsiveness is exactly why our workshops are often fully booked or oversubscribed. We listen to the community, and the community shows up.

It does mean we can't always offer the fixed calendar of dates that larger, fully staffed organisations can. Our garden is outdoors, with a hub on-site but no fixed building by our own garden. Most of our core team are seniors, or those with disabilities or chronic pain. We are, in essence, volunteer-run. We also have in-between work that pops up, sometimes an emergency in the garden that must be fixed by all of us, which significantly impacts our schedule.

What we can offer partners is honesty about that, and a genuine commitment to delivering well when we say yes. You can find out more about the workshops we've run this year, from gardening to fire cider making, to carpentry and sewing, by emailing us. 

What We Need From You

Please send us a clear, detailed breakdown of any opportunities you have in mind. While we may not have the capacity to take on everything, we are part of a wide network and are always happy to pass along relevant opportunities to trusted contacts.

Please also bear in mind that we receive a high volume of emails, and our small team spends a considerable amount of time on administrative tasks. Your clarity and conciseness are greatly appreciated.

We understand that your own managers may be working to deadlines and reporting requirements that don't always reflect what's happening on the ground. We'd love to find a way of working that respects both. If you'd like to know more about how we operate, we always encourage you to reach out.

When Do Our Sessions Run?

We've been asked for a calendar of regular events for funders and organisations to place on their internal calendars. We understand why that's useful, and we'll always share dates as early as we can. But we can't promise a fixed schedule in advance as described above. We hope you'll trust us on that, as so many of our members and partners already do.

We update via our WhatsApp group, and we have a new website where we are streamlining admin tasks, especially communication, so we can work more efficiently.

How You Can Help

If there is anything to come away with here, it is this: the last phase of transforming our space is what will let it be used all year round, and be safe for those with disabilities and for children. That's the piece we'd most love your help with, whether that's funding, materials, skills, or simply spreading the word.

We look forward to hearing from you and working together where possible.

The London Garden 

& Natural Gardeners Club