Residents from the Woolwich Common Estate are helping create a new community garden from an overgrown area that has been locked up for two and a half years. Our GCDA community gardener Surjit Power takes up the story.
“We were really excited when we were offered this abandoned plot to use as a community garden. We consulted with local residents and invited people to help us with the clear-up which started back in October.
GCDA staff were joined by four members of the local Nepalese community, and together we worked at clearing the overgrown brambles and weeks. We were astonished to find that Gyan, the eldest of the Nepalese group is 75 years old, and the others are in their early 70’s. They had even more energy than us and are incredibly strong!
Our activity caused lots of curiosity, and quite a few people came out of the nearby housing block to see what we were up to. One tenant, Olivia, provided us with some gloves and brought down some biscuits. She said she’d loved to help us with the clear up too, and had tried in the past to improve the area, but to no avail. Hopefully, this time, we’ll be able to get more people on board.
That first day, we removed 15 black bags of litter, including glass bottles, plastic water bottles, children’s toys, nappies, clothes, electrical goods and crisp packets. The amount of litter was pretty shocking. As we got to see the cleared area, we could start planning what to do with the community garden. We still need more support to cut back the bushes and clear up the ground so we can start plotting the look of the space.
The Woolwich Common Community Garden is open to anyone who wants to get involved in learning about food growing. The next step is for you to contact us and express interest, then we can add you to our list.”
The GCDA Community Gardening Team is at WCCC on Wednesday Mornings from 10am to 1pm.
A newly appointed gardener, dedicated to this particular project, will be around for 14 hours a week from mid-November.
If you are interested in getting involved please contact Surjit Power on 07983437215
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