Warren Carter

Writing grant applications is the most soul destroying and pointless waste of resources a charity can do. The problem is, how can youfunction without them? Of course if you hit the jack-pot it’s worth all the effort, but with odds getting longer and longerand Trusts being swamped by applications, it seems it would be better to spend all your reserves on buying lottery tickets! If you multiply all the small charities across the country chasing the same small pots of… Read More »MY NEW YEARS WISH TO CHARITABLE TRUSTS

Every year we say thank you to all volunteers with a Christmas Party. Digging up the spuds ready for roasting Firing up the oven 8.30am ready to roast the veg Carly puts in the organic meat in the portable oven over the fire-pit Phil cutting the meat while Adam looks hungrily on Teresa ready to tuck in Mark looking pleased with himself Luc having an after dinner drink or two Its late, its pitch black… Time to turn off the… Read More »CHRISTMAS PARTY

Moulsecoomb Forest Garden Project is a small award winning charity that packs a big punch in East Brighton. Our community gardens are a melting pot of people and our work targets some of the cities most troubled youngsters. We’ve been going nearly 20 years and have got an impressive track record. Now we are beginning to be able to offer pupils the chance to get qualifications, our work has become even more important.  So we are asking if you can… Read More »JOIN THE 500 CLUB

Thanks to a grant from The Pebble Trust the garden provided a free play scheme for 80 Moulsecoomb children over the summer holidays. We wanted to make the activities fun and learner led but also constructive with large elements of forest school, bushcraft and cooking. We started each group with shelter building and den making, where we could base ourselves from in the woods. We took the children on interactive nature walks, looking at wildlife in the forest and notably… Read More »FOREST GARDEN SUMMER SCHEME

One dreary aspect of the work we do is spending too much time in front of a computer screen writing grant applications. Funding is getting harder for all charities although the applications forms remain as much fun as ever! At the forest garden we don’t want to be totally reliant on funders, so we charge schools for our services and work with them to find ways to help them pay for our work. 35% of our income is self generating.… Read More »FRIENDS OF THE FOREST GARDEN

How many teenagers would give up their free time to volunteer in the pouring rain? Move a tonne of wood up our steep slope for our shed rebuild? Saw up wood and pot up basil plants? Help us prepare curry for lunch? (one of them even washed up one handed despite injuring his hand!).10 youngsters came to do a days work as part of the Sussex YMCA National Citizenship Scheme for 16 to 17 year old’s to learn new outdoor skills,… Read More »NATIONAL CITIZENSHIP

Our open days are a bit different. Sure we want lots of people to come and see what we are up, but more importantly it’s a chance for the pupils we work with to really get involved and cement the feeling of being part of the team. That sense of belonging and ownership is really important to what we do. In the week leading up to the open day all pupils were asked to chip in to make the place… Read More »PART OF THE TEAM

In November 2011 the building we used as an outdoor classroom was burnt to the ground.  For the past 17 months we have been busy working on a new timber framed building using locally coppiced wood and the frame is now up! We have used sweet chestnut for the majority of the frame. This is abundant in Sussex and has excellent durability and strength with hand made oak pegs to hold it together. The walls will be built using a variety of… Read More »ECO BUILDING BEGINS TO RISE AT THE GARDEN