Save Our Soil
I started the charity with a few plant pots nearly a decade ago, when I found myself having to look after several young children at once. It was an endeavour very intentionally aimed at improving their lives, as well as doing what I could to tackle wider environmental issues. Whilst my aims were not trivial, little did I know at that time quite how much we – the people of Leith – would go on to achieve together, following those humble beginnings.
Today we have Leith Community Croft, the first of what we hope will be many urban crofts, which makes possible many rich initiatives, such as the cherished Minecroft (outdoor adventure play/survival skills for young folk), a Croft Carbon College (our repertoire of accessible green skills, environmental education and food-growing workshops and activities), a market garden and learning hub, farmers’ markets and our little croft café. I am thinking about these things, as we approach the tenth anniversary of the day our charity was formally constituted, as ‘Leith Community Crops in Pots’ (fondly known locally as ‘Crops in Pots’).
Yes, since our foundation we have certainly ‘grown up’, and accordingly rebranded to ‘Earth in Common’, reflecting (amongst other things) the fact that our reach now extends globally. Indeed, we have worked in Malawi, are campaigning for what we call restorative climate justice, and work generally towards cultivating responsible global citizenship.
We have seen many things transpire. Brexit – the UK’s departure from the EU – coupled with the pandemic, have shaken the world, and many organisations and businesses have not survived these crises. Earth in Common is currently renovating the old, dilapidated pavilion on our croft, and this work should be completed in September. However, this project (its schedule and costs seriously affected by Brexit and the pandemic) has meant that our little croft café and other social enterprise activities have had to be curtailed, and are down to almost zero. In addition, at a time when several of our major funding streams have ended or are coming to an end, so many grant funders have channelled their money into helping others cope with the aftermath of Covid. This leaves us in a precarious position. The team, who help run the croft and create all the rich learning and community solidarity, are now facing difficult times, which means that Earth in Common – and the community we are built from, represent and work for is at risk.
This is why I have decided to do something positive, to help us keep our croft working and take ever more effective action on all that matters to us: climate change solutions, reversing biodiversity loss, reducing social isolation, enhancing mental and physical health, and transforming the food system.
I invite you join me on my endeavour, to set up a JustGiving page of your own, and come and run with me on May Day, at daybreak. See how many laps you can complete, and ask your friends and family to support the croft, the community and all our work together. Get running to keep us running!
See Spring for the Croft for background info
See my own page for more info on the running challenge
Where Does My Fundraising Money Go?
We have listed some examples below of how much your fundraising efforts would benefit our community with different levels of resource/infrastructure that we desperately need. Every single pound helps us keep our dreams alive and thriving, moving day by day closer to a more resilient future:
MineCroft sessions - £15 per child per session
Market Garden seed buying - £300 per season
Compost - £60 supplies the Market Garden with compost for a month
Tools & Tool Maintenance - £525 per season
Building two large timber raised beds that will last 15+ years - £900
Resources for running a years programme of environmental education sessions - £3000
One member of Croft Food Hub manning our Hingabootery Café for a day - £100
Comments