National Allotments Week

 

When Did Allotment Week Begin?

‍Started in 2002, National Allotments Week was launched by the National Allotment Society (NSALG). ·         Its original aim was to raise awareness about the importance of allotments and to encourage councils to protect and maintain them. ·         Over the years, it has grown into a major event in the gardening calendar.

‍  Why Was It Created?

‍The early 2000s saw: ·         Declining allotment numbers ·         Urban development pressures ·         Less public awareness of their benefits Allotment Week was created to: ·         Promote the social, environmental, and health value of allotments ·         Encourage new growers ·         Push for political support and protection of allotment sites

‍  Modern Relevance

‍Today, National Allotments Week is more important than ever due to: ·         Rising interest in homegrown food ·         Environmental concerns ·         Long waiting lists for plots ·         The role of gardening in mental health It celebrates not just growing vegetables, but growing communities.

‍This year's theme is Allotments and Wellbeing

‍This theme highlights how allotment gardening enhances: ·         Mental health – through reduced stress, improved mood, and a sense of achievement ·         Physical health – via outdoor activity and exercise . ·         Nutritional wellbeing – by growing fresh, healthy produce ·         Social connection – fostering community through shared gardening, events, and open days   Find out more about National Allotments Week (external link)

Watch Out For Competitions and Scams

There are lots of companies and web sites that are running competitions during National Allotment Week One of which is Kings Seeds.

So the way these competitions usually work is you share on Facebook or you tag people that would be interested, and there are terms and conditions like so ....

I've underlined the warning by Kings seeds.

Bearing in mind it's only Monday of the National Allotment Week and the competition closes on Friday 16th August @ 9am I didn't expect to see this 2 hours after I tagged in a fellow allotment holder on the competition ... 

From first looks the https:// makes it looks like a legitimate site. it says kings-seeds but kings seeds web site is kingsseeds.com and then there is the myfreesites.net which makes ones spider senses tingle. 

Note the fear close on the bottom to make you rush and do what they want. 

When I looked using the link what I saw looked like a legitimate Kings Seeds site with the request for credit card details I posted the below straight away on the competition site.

I then telephoned Kings Seeds and they put me through to their Social Media & Website Administrator, we had a discussion and I sent links and screenshots to her so they could investigate and asked her to confirm it was bogus so I could warn my followers and readers of manvslug.uk and the Facebook allotment and gardening groups I administer and visit.  

I got an email back very fast 

Hi Alan,

Thank you so much for sending the screenshots. All of these comments have now been deleted and reported, and we have banned the account from interacting with our page.

The giveaway is real, but unfortunately, these comments are spam. We have also added another comment ourselves on the giveaway just notifying entrants to be wary of spam accounts. It’s such a shame that this seems to happen most times a giveaway happens on Facebook. We have a great following on Facebook and we enjoy doing a giveaway. It’s just a shame that there are always scammers wanting to take advantage of this.

Thank you for notifying us as soon as you did. Hopefully this will be the last of these spam accounts on our giveaway.

This closes at 9am this Friday, and as mentioned, we will never ask the winner or entrants to click a link or for payment details.

Wishing you luck, and thank you for your support. Really appreciate it.

Kind Regards etc. 

The fake account has also been removed 

National Allotments Week 2024

The National Allotment Society have announced this year's theme for National Allotments Week, which will run from 12th until 18th August 2024; this week marks the 22nd year of celebrating Allotments with the NAS' annual awareness campaign.

The theme for 2024 will be Celebrating Biodiversity on UK Allotments.

We look forward to sharing useful and informative topics about Bio Diversity including pollinators and wildlife, educating the next generation, eco-friendly pest control, companion planting, soil health and more.

National Allotment Week is a yearly event, which is all about allotments, that are small plots of land that are rented out to people by a local council or private association or society for gardening, growing fruits and vegetables or even livestock. The week is all about celebrating these green spaces and the benefits they have for our health, our wellbeing and the planet!