East Suffolk Council
Field to Fork fund open for final applications
Groups in East Suffolk are being invited to apply for the final round of Field to Fork funding to support communities to grow their own food.
The Field to Fork Community Growing Grant Scheme is open for the third time this year, having already awarded £38,000 in small grants to community growing spaces across the district.
Funded solely by East Suffolk Council for this round, the scheme was previously supported by the UK Government’s Shared Prosperity Fund and the Framlingham, Wickham Market and Villages Community Partnership.
Since 2023, the Field to Fork project, which also includes a home growing scheme, has funded dozens of new growing spaces and given 3,000 free growing kits to schools and other partners, generating £138,000 worth of produce, and diverting over 23 tonnes of carbon dioxide, with 86% of people attributing improved wellbeing to getting involved in the scheme.
Councillor Sarah Whitelock, East Suffolk’s cabinet member for Communities, Leisure and Tourism said: “There’s nothing like the satisfaction of growing your own produce, so it’s been fantastic to see Field to Fork growing to fruition and seeing the impact it’s having on our communities.
“From helping people to feel more confident in growing and cooking, to reducing social isolation and improving wellbeing, as well as seeing the environmental and money saving impacts, it’s amazing to see how these relatively small grants can be invested to make a real difference in people’s lives.
“As the scheme is sadly no longer funded after this year, we hope to see as many groups as possible applying so that they can create a lasting food growing legacy in their communities to support people in growing their own food for years to come.”
Groups can apply for up to £2,000 in funding to create new growing spaces or improve existing ones to enable communities to be more self-sufficient in growing their own food.
The funding could be used to establish a new growing space, help a group to purchase tools, equipment, storage or enclosed spaces which will increase the number of people who can attend a group, or to allow groups to host cooking lessons with the food they’ve grown to improve skills and knowledge of the benefits of eating healthy food.
Find out more, read application advice and to apply to the Field to Fork Community Growing Grant Scheme.
The closing date for applications is Friday 16 January 2026.