NOC began five years ago during the COVID-19 lockdown, at a time when uncertainty around food access, isolation, and wellbeing was widely felt.

A group of people approached Lawrence with a request for help in finding alternative ways to achieve food stability during lockdown. What began as practical guidance quickly revealed a deeper need — not just for growing food, but for connection, support, and shared purpose.

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Rather than stopping at short-term solutions, Lawrence envisioned a long-term, community-owned project that could support people well beyond crisis. The idea was simple but powerful: bring people together, support one another, and use shared activity in nature to address loneliness and wellbeing challenges.

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From this vision, NOC was formed.

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Over time, the project expanded beyond food growing into a wider programme of horticultural workshops, seed saving, volunteering, and nature-based wellbeing activities. In the summer of 2024, the project entered a new phase when Kim joined Lawrence, and NOC began to truly blossom at Robin’s Nest, where horticulture, equine-assisted learning, and community wellbeing now come together.

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Today, NOC continues to grow organically, shaped by the people who take part and guided by real community needs rather than fixed outcomes.

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What We Do?

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• Horticulture & Growing Workshops
  Practical, beginner-friendly sessions covering seed sowing, seed saving, propagation, and seasonal food growing.

• Seed Collection & Preservation
  Supporting biodiversity and food resilience through accessible, traditional skills.

• Equine-Assisted Learning
  Gentle, non-riding interactions with ponies to support emotional awareness, confidence, and calm.

• Non-Technology Wellbeing Retreats (Pilot)
  Screen-free retreats focused on nature, shared meals, learning, and simple living.

• Volunteering & Community Participation
  Opportunities for individuals and groups to contribute, learn, and belong.

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About Us

Nurturing Our Community (NOC) is a community-led initiative that uses nature, food growing, and shared experience to support wellbeing, connection, and resilience. We create inclusive, welcoming spaces where people can slow down, learn practical skills, and reconnect — with the land, with animals, and with each other.

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Our work is rooted in the belief that wellbeing grows through connection, purpose, and community ownership.

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Our Farms and Community

 

At present, Nurturing Our Community (NOC) operates across privately owned fields that have been generously made available to the project by members of the community who support our aims. The use of this land has been donated to enable NOC to deliver growing, wellbeing, and community activities for public benefit.

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These fields are not commercial farms but shared community growing spaces, where people come together to learn, grow food, care for the land, and support one another. By working in partnership with landowners, NOC is able to create accessible, low-cost opportunities for community participation while remaining rooted in local support and collaboration.

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This model reflects NOC’s values of cooperation, trust, and community ownership, allowing the project to grow sustainably while staying closely connected to the people it serves.

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Our Mission 

To Create welcoming, community-owned spaces where people come together through nature and food growing to support well being,  reduce loneliness, and strengthen connection - shaped by the people for the community. 

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Our Approach

We prioritise:

• People before productivity

• Wellbeing over performance

• Learning through doing

• Respect for nature, animals, and each other

 

Participation is always supportive, inclusive, and paced to the individual.

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