About the Project
Launched in 2016, Future Gardeners is an innovative training and work experience scheme that helps people enter the horticulture industry with no prior experience, combining pre‑apprenticeship training, a City & Guilds qualification and connections to leading employers.
The £5,000 secured through LHC’s Community Benefit Fund (CBF) provided two spaces on the Future Gardeners course for disadvantaged Londoners, enabling them to obtain a City & Guilds accreditation in horticulture and receive support into skilled work through a part-time employability course. The project would have run at a deficit without LHC’s funding.
Each ten-week course follows a framework of two days of teaching per week – one day working towards the Level 1 City & Guilds qualification at a teaching garden specially created by BOST for this purpose – and the other at sites around London, including BOST's parks and gardens.
Creating social value
BOST work with a broad range of referral partners to support those furthest from employment, with no requirement to have prior qualifications. These include disability support groups, community centres, housing associations, mental health support schemes, homelessness charities, employment charities, and organisations working with offenders. With the support of the National Lottery Community Fund (NLCF) , they employ a dedicated Outreach Worker to ensure local people from all backgrounds feel they can share their ideas and become actively involved in planning, decision-making, and delivery.
By working with specialist referral partners, they ensure the programme reaches those who will benefit most, removing barriers for marginalised and vulnerable groups.
Social Value impact
The support that trainees receive helps them overcome previous struggles with employment, reducing the risk of mental health issues while providing a community space to build friendships and networks with like-minded individuals. This creates lasting value for the community, as more people move away from benefits and experience the advantages of paid employment.
The programme addresses critical skills shortages in the horticultural industry and actively targets underrepresented groups such as women, those from ethnic minority backgrounds, and people with disabilities. By removing financial and educational barriers, Future Gardeners gives people who might otherwise be excluded from training pathways a real chance to develop skills and move into work, helping to address inequality in access to training and employment.
There is an average 80% completion rate for the programme, with 70% of graduates going into sustainable employment within six months of the course ending.
Benefits Delivered
- Two previously unemployed students supported into a career in the horticultural industry, funded directly by LHC’s £5,000 contribution.
- Barriers to employment removed for disadvantaged Londoners, including those with disabilities, long-term unemployment histories, and from underrepresented groups.
For more information about our Community Benefit Fund click here.