Community Champignons is a men’s wellbeing initiative centred on supporting participants—many from disadvantaged or isolated backgrounds—to develop skills and confidence through oyster mushroom cultivation. Founded in 2024 as a response to local interest in growing sustainable food and community enterprise, the project investigates whether urban mushroom cultivation can be scaled and diversified to benefit the wider community.

The Healthy Planet, Healthy People award will be used to continue the project’s twice-weekly training sessions in mushroom cultivation, harvesting, and food hygiene. It will also enable the development of research into whether the production of multiple mushroom varieties is feasible in an urban community context; and, to what extent project sustainability can be achieved via selling mushroom grow kits via local shops and farmer’s markets.

Community Champignons aims to turn local participation into community impact. The project has already produced over 100kg of mushrooms for The People’s Pantry, directly benefiting the local community. Over the funded period, the group hope to maintain the established growing environment and community workshops, to scale production and develop the volunteer-led enterprise creating a sustainable model that continues beyond the award.