Dear Customers
Thank you for your ongoing support for Lee Greens, our community scheme. We have now been serving customers regularly for nearly 8 years and we hope it’s made a difference to your household and to the local community.
Sadly, due to rising costs and uncertainty around our long-term premises situation, we have come to the difficult decision to close Lee Greens and merge our operations with another, like-minded organisation, Sutton Community Farm. As part of the Better Food Traders’ network, we have known the people at Sutton for many years and we know that they share our values and are also working hard to create a better food system.
They will start delivering fruit and veg to our pick up points from the start of May. There's no need for you to do anything now - we’ll be in touch soon with more details about how the transition will work and are working with Sutton to make it as hassle-free as possible for you!
Introducing Sutton Community Farm
Sutton Community Farm have been growing food on their 7 acre site in South London since 2010. They now grow over 15 tonnes of veg each year in harmony with nature. This means building healthy soils, creating habitats for wildlife, and never using chemicals to grow food. They are London’s only community owned veg farm which means all the money they earn is reinvested back into the community, and over 70 farm volunteers help out each week.
Sutton are currently running a Crowdfunder and are already over half way to their goal - you can add a donation here if you wish to share the support!
Volunteers harvesting spinach at Sutton Community Farm last week!
We are thrilled that you will have a closer link with the people who grow some of the fruit and veg that you buy and as part of our transfer, Sutton Community Farm invite you to a Welcome Tour and Lunch at the farm on Saturday 8th April! It's a great opportunity to find out what they grow and meet the team!
Sutton Community Farm’s Online Shop
We are also very pleased to offer a bit more flexibility in terms of what you can order. Not only will there be Veg Boxes for you to choose (allowing you to subscribe as you currently do), but if you prefer something tailor-made for you, you can also order individual portions of fruit and veg, as well as other items. If there’s any veg that you’re not keen on, there will now be an opportunity to tell the team about your “dislikes” and your bag will be tweaked accordingly. Some of our customers have found it difficult to collect their bags from pickup points and you will now be able to request a home delivery if you choose to.
Next Steps
There's no need for you to do anything now. Please look out for more emails and an invitation to log into your new Sutton Community Farm account at the end of April. If you would like to opt out of the transfer, then please feel free to get in touch.
We have amended our Privacy Statement on the Lee Greens website to prepare for this change by adding the following wording:
On the occasion of sale or transfer of control of all or part of Lee Greens, we will transfer your personal data to the new owner or controller. They will be permitted to use your personal data for the same purposes for which it was originally supplied to us.
As always, you have the right to ask for a copy of any of your personal data held by us at any time, or to opt out of the transfer - just reply to this email.
Whilst we are sad to be sharing this news, we are also really excited about the future possibilities for our wonderful customers – we know you are in very good hands!
Thank you to you!
We want to say an enormous thank you to you - our customers and friends - for your ongoing support for Lee Greens, our community scheme. We have now been serving customers regularly for nearly 8 years and we hope it’s made a difference to your household and to the local community. It certainly has to us!
We also want to thank our amazing and loyal team of volunteer packers, drivers and managers who have been with us through our many journeys over the years.
We hope we have inspired some love of good food and community spirit and we are sure Sutton will do a brilliant job of continuing our message for the Lewisham community.
Love and Veg,
Lee Greens
