Community gardening group the Woodford Greeners has been incredibly busy over the last year after being granted access to the walled garden in Ray Park. Lydia Fraser-Ward reports. Photos by Geoff Wilkinson
Originally formed by neighbours living in Woodford Green, the Woodford Greeners was brought together in 2022 by a shared desire to see the outdoor spaces in our neighbourhood improved after being neglected for many years.
Initially, volunteers tidied up planters filled with litter and weeds in Snakes Lane East and the surrounding roads, sprucing them up with flowers and plants they bought themselves. But after adopting more than 20 public beds, we made the request to Vision RCL for space in the walled garden in Ray Park so we could grow plants from seed and then transplant them out into the community.
What started as a small, two-metre growing patch soon expanded, and we demonstrated our dedication to improving green spaces by clearing more than 180 square metres of nettles, brambles and poisonous hemlock that was filling much of the walled garden site at the time, as well as removing rubbish and scrap metal. We also raised funds for a gazebo to be installed, a water mains standpipe to be reinstated, plus a series of raised beds to be built and filled with dahlias and other perennial flowers for the public to come in and enjoy at weekends.
Throughout summer 2023, the community garden was host to a number of free workshops, including a food-growing programme which will be returning as a free monthly session on Saturday mornings throughout 2024.
All this activity caught the attention of local councillors, who have thrown their support behind the Woodford Greeners and agreed to clear the rest of the site of old skips and rubbish that have been stored there for more than 10 years. Over the last couple of months, contractors have been bringing in machinery to take it all away, as well as clear large amounts of brambles, freeing up more space for the community garden to expand.
We also received more good news this year after discovering we had been selected to receive a Flagship ‘Our Space Award’ of more than £18,000 from Groundwork to develop this new area of the walled garden and install more crucial resources and infrastructure for the local community to use. This funding will also enable us to run free workshops at the garden again throughout summer 2024, so keep your eyes peeled for announcements on the Woodford Greeners website for our latest events and opportunities.
For more information on the Woodford Greeners and the workshops taking place in the walled garden, visit swvg.co.uk/wg
