As a not-for-profit co-operative we are a growing and important part of UK small-scale flower farming and want our members to be representative of the UK’s population. Our Diversity Action Group aims to keep this firmly on our agenda as we move forward.
Flowers from the Farm represents individuals working across floristry, horticulture and flower farming, and we are aware of how far we have yet to go to ensure our organisation, and our industry, is fully inclusive. In 2020, a group of members came together to ask what could be done to encourage greater diversity within our membership and how to actively address societal racism and inequality in a way that was relevant to the flower farming sector. The Diversity Action Group (DAG) was formed to find actionable ways to ensure our membership continues to diversify.
We recognise that there are invisible barriers to accessing growing and education in farming. The first step that the DAG took was to launch a Diversity Scholarship, which offers five recipients a unique programme of advice, mentorship, reference books, tools and equipment, and training courses to help kick-start their career as flower farmers.
The DAG has also created a toolkit to support current members with what they can do to support diversity work within our orgaisation, and our next initiative is to look at access to land. If you would like to support or join the DAG, please email diversitygroup@flowersfromthefarm.co.uk.
Marianne Mogendorff of Wolves Lane Flower Company talks about the work of the Diversity Action Group since it began in summer 2020.
We were delighted at the response to our first scholarship award programme launched in December 2020 and are pleased to introduce our five winners.
Anais Carillo Hawkins
Andrea Ferdinand
Charlotte Merryweather
Elsie Harper
Jenny Yeoung
We’d like to thank the following for their support
Soil and Fleurs, Cheshire