Veg Power campaign in Boscombe

The main shopping area will be turned into a vegetable patch from now until June with a wide range of events and activities to encourage people to grow, eat and enjoy vegetables.

The campaign is being led by the Sustainable Food City Partnership and Bournemouth council.

Raised beds will be installed, new vegetable growing spaces will be developed and people will be encouraged to use their Healthy Start Vouchers.

Cookery demonstrations and workshops will be held and there will be initiatives to reduce waste and redistribute surplus.

Special events will include community meals and local businesses are being urged to get involved.

One of the first to join the initiative is Urban Guild, which is offering a free meal at its Urban Reef restaurant to those who take part in its fun competition.

To take part, turn yourself into a veg superhero using your favourite vegetable, take a picture and post it online using #VegPowerBoscombe. You can use the hashtag to see what's already been posted.

There will also be the chance for others to join in with cookery demonstrations and share food at the Christmas community meal.

Sarah Watson, manager of the Sustainable Food City Partnership said: "We are so pleased to be working with the people of Boscombe to get everyone enjoying vegetables. We hope that our campaign will really engage with everyone and improve health and wellbeing through all the activities we have planned from now until the summer.

"Look out for our veg batman poster as new activities and competitions will be happening all the time, and we hope to be getting businesses signed up to make small changes in what they do as well. We’re really excited to be partnering with Urban Reef on the first of our social media competitions as they have already committed to supporting Boscombe to become a Veg Cities high street."