Who We Are
Regenerating Bristol’s soil, communities, and future...
Generation Soil CIC is a Bristol-based community interest company working to regenerate the city’s food system from the ground up.
We work with households, local businesses, schools, and community groups to collect food waste, transform it into living compost, and return it to Bristol’s soils to grow food, support biodiversity, and strengthen local resilience.
Our work brings together community composting, soil education, and regenerative growing to demonstrate what circular food systems can look like in practice, not as theory, but as lived, everyday infrastructure.
Food waste isn’t rubbish.
Soil isn’t inert.
Regeneration starts at home.
What We Do
Generation Soil exists to keep nutrients, knowledge, and benefit rooted in Bristol.
Our work focuses on three interconnected areas:
Community Composting
We collect food waste from households and small businesses across Bristol and compost it locally through the Bristol Living Compost Project. That food waste is stabilised, matured, and transformed into living compost, which is returned to gardens, allotments, schools, community growing spaces, and our own food forest.
This keeps nutrients in the city and turns everyday actions into collective impact.
Soil and Food Education
Alongside composting, we deliver hands-on soil and food education that helps people understand how healthy soil underpins healthy food, communities, and ecosystems.
We work with schools, community groups, and organisations across Bristol and the South West, offering workshops, talks, Compost Clinics, and practical learning experiences rooted in real systems, not abstract advice.
Regenerative Growing
We apply what we teach through our own growing projects, including a two-acre food forest market garden at Leigh Woods Meadows, Bristol.
This site is a living demonstration of regeneration in action, powered by compost made from Bristol’s own food waste and shaped by care, time, and ecological thinking.
community interest statement
Generation Soil is a Community Interest Company (CIC). Our activities exist to improve the health and wellbeing of people and the natural environment across Bristol.
We do this by:
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providing community composting services
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delivering food system and soil education
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developing regenerative growing projects
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restoring soil health and biodiversity
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strengthening local food resilience
Any surplus we generate is reinvested into community benefit, education, and expanding access to regeneration.
Our Story
From Food Waste to Food Forest
Generation Soil began with a simple idea: food waste should feed soil, not landfill.
That idea grew into a city-wide composting and education project, and now into our most ambitious step yet: a two-acre food forest market garden at Leigh Woods Meadows.
Once compacted farmland, the site is being transformed into a thriving ecosystem using compost made from Bristol’s own food waste. Soil health is being rebuilt. Biodiversity is returning. Nutrient-dense food is being grown for the local community.
It is a living example of what a regenerative, circular food system can look like when it is rooted in place and shaped by care rather than speed.
Our Mission
Regeneration Through Community Composting
Our mission is to regenerate Bristol’s food system by reconnecting people with soil, food, and each other.
Community composting sits at the heart of this mission. By collecting food waste and returning it to the land as living compost, we:
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close nutrient loops
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improve soil health
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reduce reliance on extractive inputs
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support local food production
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build resilience at a community scale
Our food forest market garden brings this mission into the open. It is a space for growing food, restoring ecosystems, sharing knowledge, research, and connection.
Regeneration is not an abstract goal.
It is something you can build, step by step.
How the Food Forest Fits Our Vision
The food forest market garden is a practical expression of our long-term vision for Bristol.
It shows how:
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food waste can become a valuable local resource
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degraded land can be restored through compost, plants, and time
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communities can play an active role in shaping food resilience
The site will continue to evolve as a place for food production, learning, research, and community connection.
Meet the Team
Alex Montgomery
Founder & Director
PhD researcher in UK food systems and a self-confessed soil nerd with a deep interest in composting, microbes, and regenerative growing. Often found talking about bacteria, building compost systems, or spending time with his rabbits.
Sam Deuchar
Director
Landscape gardener with a passion for building practical, regenerative growing spaces and local food systems. Often found in a polytunnel or halfway up a cliff face.
Jordy Akram
Director
MSc Environmental Policy graduate with a love for permaculture, foraging, and community-led change. Often found playing guitar or picking blackberries.
Rei Otsuki
Community & Ops Manager
I support Generation Soil’s mission by managing digital operations, social media, and admin systems to support soil health, community building, and regenerative food systems.
Fun fact: I love journaling in cafés with a colourful collection of pens.
Archie Limbert
Education Lead
Founder of Folk Forage Feast
Kate Rampersad
Food Forest Design Lead
Landscape Design Student
who we've worked with
What People Say
“What a wonderful community enterprise! Generation Soil hosted a visit from North Somerset Master Composter volunteers, and everyone went away feeling inspired and full of ideas about how to get more composting going in our communities.”
“Alex had no hesitation in accepting a huge food waste challenge at short notice and made the whole project stress-free. Buckets provided, clear instructions, everything collected. Job done.”
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Rated 5.0 on Google
Trusted by households, community gardens, schools, festivals, and food businesses across Bristol.