Community Garden project

The interview which I gave at the Faith and Climate Change Conference for the OU/BBC's Creative Climate project is now on their website.

In part of the interview I talk about the community garden project at St John's Seven Kings, for which we have recently gained funding through London over the Border and the Area 5 & 7 Committees.

The project aims to redevelop the garden around the east end of the church as a community garden in order to encourage local people to use the garden for rest and reflection by introducing: additional seating areas; areas of sensory and remembrance planting; artworks, and community information.

Our more detailed plans are:

1. Additional seating areas - locate benches at the north and south ends of the East Wall and a companion seat at the church end of the remembrance area.

2. Areas of sensory and remembrance planting – create sensory borders around each of the East Wall benches by: use trellis behind the benches to grow climbers such as honeysuckle and winter jasmine; and borders of low growing, scented plants (such as lavender and rosemary) alongside the benches; and create a remembrance area at the far north end of the garden (in front of the Fellowship Room) using slate chips to cover the ground, a low chain link fence to delineate the area, and planting miniature roses and French lavender (in memory of loved ones) within the area.

3. Artworks – introduce a community mosaic or mural along the middle of the East Wall. An artist would be commissioned to design and make the mosaic/mural through community art workshops involving local people (i.e. school, community groups etc.); commission a sculpture for the centre of the remembrance area; and display art posters and/or paintings on the reverse of the noticeboards.

4. Community information – replace the existing noticeboards with new noticeboards in the same or similar locations, one of which would be for community information.

5. Additional plans – remove the border along the Aldborough Road South wall and replace with grass; create a circular border around the holly tree, add a bird bath and feeders, and plant with grasses; plant choisya, hebes, dogwood, ceanothus, spirea, and osteopermum in the East Wall border below the mosaic/mural; narrow and thin the border along the St John’s Road wall and plant a Judas Tree at the corner of St John’s Road and Aldborough Road South; locate an outside tap close to the Fellowship Room porch.

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Creed - Rain.