As the year comes to a close, it’s time to look back and celebrate the amazing achievements we had in 2017.
Over the summer we doubled the number of pick up points around Lewisham from four to eight, expanding our reach from Lee, Blackheath, Hither Green and Brockley to include Deptford/New Cross, Ladywell, Honor Oak and also Lewisham town centre. We now deliver almost 150 veg bags per week, all year round, to locations around the borough for local people to collect.
In October we received the Mayor of Lewisham’s Business Award for the Environment. A great endorsement of our business model and recognition that what we do supports the borough’s environment goals.
To cap it all, a month later Lee Greens was again recognised by the Mayor Sir Steve Bullock for our voluntary contribution to the community. This award is for the 16 volunteers who support our business in various areas and thereby help the people of Lewisham as a whole.
Lee Greens is a young company but in the two years and a half we have been operating, we have truly lived up to the values we started with: to be community led, to support local trade, to provide fresh, seasonal, organic vegetables and to protect the environment.
Community led means that staff and a great group of volunteers are local people with a passion for serving those around them and a commitment to the scheme's principles. We employ local people and expect to provide jobs for increasing numbers as the scheme grows.
We support local trade by operating a series of pick-up points where customers come and collect a bag of organic vegetables each week.
The pick-up points are hosted by businesses around Lewisham (pubs, cafes, health centres). This encourages local people to spend money in those premises as well as meeting other members of the community.
We are working towards a more sustainable food system by increasing access to locally, sustainably produced food. By keeping suppliers as local as possible, and supplying seasonal vegetables, produce costs and food miles are minimised. By operating via pick-up points and not delivering to individual homes, transport costs and pollution emissions are also kept to a minimum.
At Lee Greens we treat our suppliers fairly: without pressuring farmers on price, we are still able to provide affordable vegetables to customers every week.
Overall, it has been a great journey for us and we will continue to work hard to deliver on our principles and longer term goals.
If you live in the borough and would like to know more about us, don’t hesitate to get in touch via [email protected], via our social media channels or look at our website leegreens.org.
