Local people, schools, community groups and businesses are working together and separately to plant up Bankside. We have a vision that wherever you are within this inner-city area, you will be able to turn and see something green and beautiful.
Brookwood House Triangle
With the help of local residents, Southwark Council, artist Fritz Haeg, and Tate Modern a new community garden has been created at The Triangle on Webber Row, outside Brookwood House. The garden featured in Tate Modern's 'Global Cities' exhibition in 2007 and has gone on to win a number of awards.
Local People Gardening
BOST helped Chris with soil, pot, plants and information to grow vegetables and herbs on her balcony, which began an interest in vegetable gardening. “My family and I have been using the chives for cooking that we have grown in the container I planted up.”
Chris joined other residents in sowing peas, garlic and shallots in a new raised vegetable bed that we helped them install. She now enjoys participating in all weathers in a regular BOST gardening club on her estate.
BOST recognises the limitations and frustrations of gardening in this difficult area; tiny gardens, windy balconies, no soil, no garden centre, no storage space for tools and often limited income and no means of transport. We work to bridge these difficulties and support the work of gardeners in making the area beautiful, bringing together communities and celebrating our cultural diversity. BOST can help with:
• Information, reference books, and guidance on gardening.
• Volunteering in one of our gardening club sessions which help to improve open spaces in the area.
• Compost and other resources
• Gardeners' events to help you grow plants and vegetables on your balcony.
• Some small spaces for communal vegetable growing and shared harvest.
Schools Gardening
Rhianna, aged 9 from Friars School has been visiting the Diversity Garden as part of a after school gardening club. She and her classmates have grown vegetables from seed to harvest. She has enjoyed planting seeds, potting, planting, watering, weeding, tending to vegetables, harvesting, washing and dividing up the produce. Rhianna said "Our home-grown potatoes were the best, and Tasting the Chillies that we have grown is like tasting the sun.”
BOST has created links with schools and nursery groups across North West Southwark. With support this year from Better Bankside, we help provide information and hands-on activities to fit in with many learning objectives of the National Curriculum.
• We help create safe, meaningful educational visits to a Bankside park or garden by providing an on-site workshop session for the class.
• We visit schools and help children to green and improve their playground space and teach them new gardening skills.
• We help with outdoor events such as a healthy eating event, spring fair or harvest festival.
Community Groups Gardening
Nelson and other members of a group of refugees have enjoyed practical gardening activities at the Diversity Garden and other parks in the area. Nelson said, “I feel prepared to find a job now and I have made a lot of friends. I would like to find a job working in a garden like this one.” Nelson is from Chile and he has taught us about his culture, while improving his English. Nelson’s volunteer placement was arranged through Pecan, an organisation that enables people to get the skills in order to get work.
BOST has created links with community groups in North West Southwark. We provide information and hands-on sessions to help group members understand gardening.
• We can provide a one-off community gardening event to create awareness of healthy living or support a Tenant’s Association
• We can advise and consult on improving housing land or a children’s playground on an estate or community centre site.
• We could help develop a growing space with your group.
• We could set up a gardening club and provide gardening sessions for your community group to improve a shared garden, to plant up window boxes on an estate or introduce container vegetable gardening to your group.
Businesses Gardening
Francois Tarisse, a local resident and employee of Goldman Sachs was able to bring a team of co-workers along to improve the local area with BOST. He helped us create two herbaceous borders at the Tate Modern Community Garden. Francois worked hard to lead his colleagues, cost the project, mark out and level the ground, add topsoil and finally plant up the bed with herbs and flowering plants last spring. Francois said: "The day was hard work but thoroughly enjoyable as an exciting out-of-office experience."
BOST works with local companies to provide gardening and environmental opportunities. Our volunteering days are particularly popular, and we value the various parks improvements that have been completed and paid for by local businesses.
• Team-building opportunities - through practical gardening days
• Contributing to BOST’s work through funding one of our gardening projects
• Providing company time for individual volunteering
To find out more, get in touch with our Community Gardening team.
