Community gardens are a great place to spend time if you want to find out more about how to grow food, or if you are looking to volunteer.
A community garden is being given a new lease of life and volunteers are being invited to join in and help to make it a welcoming space for everyone to enjoy.
Ealing Council has granted Cultivate London, a horticultural charity and social enterprise that runs projects across west London, the lease for some land in Green Lane, Hanwell. Cultivate London are running their DIG project there, with plans to turn the space into a thriving community resource.
Sylvia Cordell, Cultivate London’s business and community development manager, said: “We would really like more people to come along and grow produce with us. You don’t need any particular skills or knowledge, just bring yourselves along and a willingness to pitch in.
“The site has been closed for a while and it is a bit hidden so people might have forgotten it’s here. We want to remind them that it is here, and to come and see what we are doing to make it a great community space. We’re a friendly bunch.”
The charity received funding for the DIG project from a number of sources, including the council’s Future Ealing fund, which provides financial support to community-led ideas that help the recovery of business, neighbourhoods and the local area.
Cultivate London has been encouraging and helping local communities to better connect with their green spaces by sharing horticulture and environmental knowledge since 2010.
Get involved
If you would like to get involved you can go along to the volunteer drop-in session, which is held every Monday from 10am-3pm. You can spend as much or as little time as you want there, with tasks for all ages and abilities. You can even just go down to enjoy the fresh air, meet the team and have a cuppa.
Bringing the community together
Councillor Polly Knewstub, Ealing Council’s cabinet member for thriving communities, said: “It’s wonderful to see this garden beginning to flourish again, and for the community to be coming together and making this space something really special.
“It’s a great opportunity to meet other people, give something back to where you live and make it a place that residents can really benefit from.”
Councillor Deirdre Costigan, deputy leader and cabinet member for climate action, added: “We pledged to deliver 10 community growing spaces by 2026, to add to and complement the 60 allotments we already have in Ealing. Food security and sustainability is a key part of our climate and ecological emergency strategy, so we’re thrilled to be working with Cultivate London at this site in Hanwell through our Future Ealing Fund.”
Find out more about growing your own food in Sylvia’s new monthly blog.
