Southall Community College is the new home of Ealing’s first ‘Incredible Edible’ garden following a fantastic community event to clear rubbish and lay down new plants over the weekend.
The garden was officially opened by Councillor Simon Woodroofe, the Mayor of Ealing and Virendra Sharma, MP for Ealing Southall on Saturday 7 October 2017 and followed several days of scrub clearing and rubbish picking to prepare the space.
The new garden at covers several square metres of raised land and will act as a pilot scheme for further gardens in the area. With the Southall Waterside development in close proximity and the forthcoming Crossrail project bringing the centre of London even closer, Southall is fast turning into the suburb of the future for West London.
Alongside local residents, members of Ealing Transition, West London College, Berkeley Homes at Southall Waterside and Everyone Active worked together in a great display of community spirit. The team picked litter, tidied and bedded a new garden of edible plants which will be publicly available when they are ready to pick; ensuring Southall is a clean and tidy environment for all to enjoy.
The Incredible Edible garden movement began in the small town of Todmorden in 2007 and has expanded across the country and around the world. The development of edible gardens has proven to be a great way to keep our environment tidy and bolster civic pride which in turn reduces crime and antisocial behaviour. Launching the new garden, Councillor Simon Woodroofe, the Mayor of Ealing said: “I would like to thank everybody who came along to this event as it is just the type of project we need for Southall. I hope people will latch onto it and support the people who are working on it. Thank you to all the people who organised it!”
Mani Dhanda from the Southall Transition Steering Group said: “This is the garden of its type in Southall and we are hoping people will take inspiration from this. People can start their own gardens like this at home and share them with the community.”
Southall Community College is at the heart of the local community providing a supportive, welcoming environment for the people of Southall and beyond.