GROforYOU

Gro for Good and Farmer Jones Academy, two community interest companies, are collaborating to establish three Centres of Educational Excellence branded GROforYOU, aimed at alleviating the concerns we have for our young people who are suffering from an array of profound social challenges across the Scottish Highlands. We will engage young people on a journey of learning through studying and working in our Aquaponic Gardens, exploring the relationship between fish and plants, serving the Highlands tourist industry in our Training Cafes and Kitchens and Shops, all conducted in Accredited Training programs endorsed by the Scottish government that will benefit many local food and drink businesses currently concerned at the lack of soft skills and positive work attitudes. 

Our unique system designs are most replicable and will prove a considerable international community asset in ensuring food sovereignty and food security on the journey to net carbon emissions.

Depopulation Crisis - rural deprivation, low self esteem, crime, and a lack of career opportunities and activities for the 400 young people we are already working with.

Food security challenges through the lack of local and innovative production methods. (Aquaponics is the solution).

The abysmal decline of the nutritional content of foods that is lost due to long delivery miles from source.

Poor mental health and well-being exacerbated dramatically following the onset of Covid 19.

Social exclusion and isolation.

Lack of confidence and personal interpersonal skills.

Unstable family and support networks.

Lack of opportunity, poverty and mental health is a far greater issue in rural locations that must be tackled.

Lack of training programmes that take young people on a journey from introduction to industry and lead them towards a positive employment outcome.

Few opportunities for young people to work with nature, and create a safe and supported environment.  

Excessive water usage and carbon emissions in traditional food productions systems.

We will focus on delivering Foundation Apprenticeships within Food and Drink Technologies and Business Skills where we are currently contracted by government to deliver and ensure accredited success for 170 students by 2022.

GROforYOU will establish three Scottish Highland 'bases' that will allow us to further develop our own working model and catalogue of training services to increase our role out in the communities, including Post School Entrants and Industry Training. We require community land for growing areas and eco-pods that will provide indoor training space and host our research and development facility to be hired out to local food and drink producers.

We will employ a Community Development Manager to work with our partners and key stakeholders within the community and to work with our Business Development Manager to develop and package a Franchise/"Train a Trainer" model that we can then offer to 'out of area' training and education providers.

We will train new trainers who will be responsible to deliver our Early Intervention Masterclasses, Community/Industry Workshops and Foundation Apprenticeships.

We will employ an Employability Officer to act as a key contact and mentor for local food and drink businesses and young apprentices within local communities. 

Aquaponics is one a suite of future thinking technologies that are needed to transform not only our economies and our young people, but our collective well-being and that of the planet. And as we now realise the four are invisible. 

Gro for Good CIC (winner of the 2020 'Sustainability' sector of the Scottish Green Energy Awards), and Farmer Jones Academy (winner of the 2019 Scottish Highland Business Awards) are perfectly placed in the GROforYOU projects to develop strong relationships with young people as they enter the workplace and for industry, public sectors and local communities to drive ownership of a sustainable community.

We will seek to utilise the best in class, third party providers to ensure that the delivery of our service to young people matches the expectation of our stakeholders.

We will implement ongoing staff training and coaching to ensure we have the required skills to deliver our goals. Adoption of an progressive culture to ensure we meet the demands expected of us

We are unique in that Farmer Jones Academy are an accredited training provider and can offer students various pathways into employment. We have a portfolio of courses ranging from early introduction masterclasses to excite and education young people about the Horticulture, Food and Drink Industry and all the benefits that come with it in terms of career opportunities and lifestyle, to courses that offer skills based learning and industry experience, naturally leading them into employment. 

There are no other training providers specialising in Horticulture, Food and Drink with a localised flavour and offering courses at every stage of a young person’s development and this is where we believe we differentiate from any likely competition.

We believe strongly in the power of partnership and working in collaboration to the benefit of local schools, businesses and community. 

We are actively working with organisations such as Lairg Rural Training, University of Highlands and Islands, Royal Highland Education Trust, Quality Meat Scotland, Lantra, Scotland Food and Drink, Federation of Food and Drink, Voluntary Youth Networks through Youth Highland, Community Development Trusts, and Industry sharing available resources and working together to give our students an exciting and useful experience.

Aquaponics provides the ideal learning framework for STEM skills (Science, Technology, the Environment and Mathematics). 40% of businesses in the food technology sector report difficulty in recruiting. There are employment opportunities, but much more direction and training is needed in secondary schools and beyond. 

Beyond these formal studies, there is a deeper satisfaction in simply being involved in the production of healthy food. For all. it feels empowering and rewarding. The lack of STEM skills and poverty seems set to remain endemic in many communities, but where today there are 'food banks', in the future there should be aquaponics gardens.

The collaboration of two community interest companies, one creating the physical growing and educational space, and the other conducting accredited sustainable training programmes, is drawing considerable national interest.

Gro for Good have created an award winning Aquaponic garden that has won prestigious awards against strong opposition in the green / renewables sector. A national one week press event will commence featuring the gardens from 26 June. Food journalists, educators and TV companies will attend from all across the UK. All making the long journey north recognise that Aquaponics will play a central role in the future of local food production; not so much the availability, but the nutritional quality of it.

Farmer Jones Academy have secured new employability contracts with the Scottish government working with 400 young people aged 16 to 24 years. A strong brand has already been developed, endorsed by government thanks to educational delivery, engagement and ambition.

Combining exemplary aquaponic food production systems with accredited training programs for 14-24 year old people.

Our aquaponic systems need less than 5% of the water used in traditional horticulture. Potentially polluting organic fish wastes are recycled.

Food is grown in an organic way, without chemical inputs and potential may also exist to enhance nutritional content.

Aquaponics gardens can thrive in areas previously deemed unsuitable for crop cultivation.

Local production near end-markets creates robust security of food supplies and dramatically cuts “food miles”.

Our model provides unique opportunities for teaching and learning in-demand Science, Technology, Environmental and Mathematics skills, accessible to a wide cross-section of children and adults.

Currently, Farmer Jones Academy and Gro for Good are working with 400 young people in the east of the Scottish Highlands.

By the middle of 2022, we plan to extend this service to 600.

In five years time, we comfortably expect this number of trainees, including communities, to have extended to 3,000.

We have had STEM-related measurement processes designed by a Scottish government supported company, True North Innovation.

Farmer Jones Academy have designed a roadmap for creating education programmes for young people that deliver. These are programmes that have helped youngsters, in some of the most deprived communities in Scotland, to get ahead. The excellence of their work and the fact that they DO deliver, has been acknowledged by the Scottish Qualifications Authority and The Royal Environmental Health Institute Of Scotland who have granted Farmer Jones Academy full accreditation. A qualification from Farmer Jones Academy really counts for something.

Gro for Good has a core team of four, while Farmer Jones Academy has 10 members of training staff.

Going forward, students on their career paths will make up the big numbers of the solution team.

Both companies have been recognised by government as solution providers.

Hugh Fullerton-Smith, of Gro for Good, is a Nuffield Farming Scholar, a Fellow of the Royal Agricultural Society and former Director of the European Nature Trust.

Sarah Mackenzie and Richard Jones of Farmer Jones Academy are widely respected by the Scottish government as educational innovators in both local food and production and business training.

Dr Francis Murray is an esteemed aquaculture scientist who works globally. He is Gro for Good's Technical Director.

Amber Johnston is a Civil Engineer who has a passion for aquaponics and teach STEM related skills.

By the very nature of both entities being non-profit Community Interest Companies, we demonstrate complete commitment to doing the very best of ability to maintain both physical and mental well-being in communities, in tandem with providing unique responses to climate change challenges and arresting the abysmal decline of the nutritional value of foods.

All stakeholders bring their own strengths to GROforYOU and will often be working independently, but in harmony to bring each project to launch.

We are committed to support the physically and mentally challenged and of equal priority is the goal of establish GROforYOU projects in areas of extreme social deprivation.

We believe that this project can be easily replicated anywhere in the world. The combination of installing RAS (Recirculating Aquaculture Systems) and harmonising the relationship between fish and plants for the exemplary production of highly nutritious foods for local communities, using less than 5% of the water of a traditional horticultural enterprise; and combining government accredited student training into the mix, is totally unique.

Solve would be the vehicle to piggy-back such an initiative to the global community. 

Already, Hugh has been contacted by the Canadian NGO, 'CANDO', (Council for the Advancement of Native Development Officers), with whom he has consulted for over many years to consult to selected First Nations groups with a view to establish GROforYOU projects. With Solve's communications assistance, the combination of assets embodied in our work can be made available to support many communities world wide.

Solve's network can embrace the 'GROforYOU' initiative with vigour. In particular, Aboriginal communities throughout Canada struggle with ill-health through being at the very end of the food chain. Diabetes is rife, followed by despair, suicide and unemployment.

Every one of the combination of practical aquaponic growing systems, through to the education of hundreds of community members would have a profound, positive effect on the recovery of these groups to wellbeing.

We believe that Solve will understand who better we can partner with to ensure that GROforYOU projects are embraced on a global scale.  We would welcome as much assistance as possible from those that know.  We are rather isolated in the Scottish Highlands.

Yes, we certainly would. We believe we have a unique combination of assets that can be readily embraced on many continents, but we have to raise awareness and a prize of the ASA status would complement the prizes we have already won in our short history.

The GROforYOU assets are perfectly placed for Innovation in Refugee Inclusion.

This prize category is probably our strongest opportunity as STEM disciplines lie at the heart of all we are determined to achieve.

The GROforYOU assets are perfectly placed for the AI for Humanity Prize. 

The GROforYOU assets are perfectly placed for The AI for Humanity Prize to advance our solution.

The GROforYOU assets are perfectly placed for The GSR Prize to advance our solution.