On Friday 11th July, the Wayv team helped out at Norton Nurseries, a food growing site acquired by social enterprise, Food Works, in 2024.
Originally opened in 1983, Norton Nurseries were initially used to grow bedding plants for use throughout Sheffield’s parks and green spaces. Having closed in the 1990’s, the nurseries spent c. 30 years unused – until Food Works took them on in 2024 as part of their enterprise.
The nurseries provide 1650m2 of growing space, which, until recently, was in a state of disrepair. While the nurseries’ original functionality, including irrigation and temperature control, are no longer in use, the space offered an opportunity to expand Food Works’ various initiatives.
Based around community supply and support through locally grown produce, Food Works rent space to other local enterprises, such as Discovery Outdoors and Percy Street Collective CIC, to maximise the legacy of the nurseries. When we visited, the University of Sheffield were even utilising a space – for an experiment on the effects of different fertilisers on the growth of strawberries.
The nurseries cover a large space which still requires a lot of input to get working fully. We split our team into two groups – on half a day each – to assist in Food Works’ mission to get the nurseries working to their full capacity once again. Throughout the day, our team worked clearing outdoor growing space (and discovering a network of pipes!), re-potting seedlings and planting a variety of seeds. We also cleaned up and watered a large range of plants and pots, which on the hottest day of the year so far, was no mean feat!
The plants raised in the nurseries go to multiple community growing projects across Sheffield, including 96 schools that grow food with the plants. Eventually, once the nurseries have been filled and nurtured, the plants will be used for Food Works’ other initiatives which include ‘pay what you can afford’ cafes and ready meals, all with a minimum contribution of £1.
Our Marketing Manager, Katherine Otter, organised the volunteering day. She commented:
“We wanted to work with a local organisation for our team volunteering, and when we looked into Food Works’ initiatives across the city, we were keen to help the community-led and community-focussed organisation.
Norton Nurseries is an impressive space that requires many hands to run – the team were more than happy to get stuck in, and we were all impressed with the extent of activities supported by Food Works across the city! We’re looking forward to volunteering more in the future, and contributing to their wonderful, wide-ranging initiatives.”
At the end of each session, the team were asked to reflect on their time at Norton Nurseries, not only volunteering their time but teambuilding and connecting with nature. We each wrote down a reflection/comment, which you can see here.
Food Works’ other initiatives include utilising local surplus food to prevent waste, selling vegetable boxes of locally grown produce, and running markets.
Find out more about their initiatives and how you can get involved here: Food Works – Fair and Sustainable Food for Sheffield
