The Royal Borough Environment Project (RBEP) started as an initiative in 2009 with the aim of developing community kitchen garden sites on under-used, neglected or disused areas of land in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea (RBKC), where local residents could grow their own fruit and vegetables. The project has expanded over the years and has proved extremely popular with local residents. There are now over 60 community kitchen garden sites across the borough being used by over 1000 residents and community groups.

In 2016 a market garden site was built on a disused railway platform at Kensington Olympia Station, funded by a Public Health grant.  Prior to this, over a two-year period, the concept of Cultivating Kensington and Chelsea (CKC) was developed by a group of local volunteers and plot-holders, under the guidance of Groundwork London, who had successfully bid for funding from RBKC to launch this project.

CKC is a volunteer led project that was registered as a Charitable Incorporated Organisation (CIO) with the Charity Commission at the beginning of 2016.  CKC’s volunteers grow fruit and vegetable seedlings to sell onto community kitchen garden plot holders and the wider public.  The funds from the sales will support the community kitchen garden sites through the CKC Grant Fund.

However the Council has now taken back occupation of the market garden site and CKC is being prepared for a voluntary winding up in January 2024.  For further information please email secretaryckccio@gmail.com