During our two and a half years at Coldharbour allotments, with the support of the Royal Borough of Greenwich, a number of grants and a very many volunteers, we have together created an amazing community space as part of our Food Equalities Programme.
METRO Orchards provides a space for service users across our domains to relax, unwind and re-connect with nature. We are also looking forward to welcoming local school visits to the site, furthering young people’s understanding of where their food comes from.
We launched METRO Orchards this August and were delighted to be joined by other plot holders, service users, volunteers and of course local Councillors Danny Thorpe, Linda Bird and Miranda Williams. With Miranda kindly cutting the ribbon on our new greenhouse! This was also the first use of the new community pergola which is now open for free bookings for community activities – email pergola@metrocharity.org.uk if you would like to book the space!
The next phase of this project is to create a community wildlife area. Thanks to a grant from the Mayor of London’s Greener City Fund we have been able to complete a wildlife assessment of the proposed site, create a planting and wildlife trail plan and undertake the initial site preparation.
This month we are very pleased to have completed the initial site preparation, removing rubbish and clearing brambles from the dis-used plots at the back of the allotments – liberating six wonderful trees!
In the coming months we will be planting a number of new trees with support from the Mayor of London's Plant a Tree programme, and in the new year commence plans, in consultation with the London Wildlife Trust, for general planting to encourage wildlife into the area, with a mini beasts zone, a sensory garden, a bee and wildflower zone, a social zone, a wetland and pond zone, and bat and bird zones.
We are always very excited to involve new volunteers and partners, so if you would like to get involved or have any questions about the new wildlife area, the Food Equalities Programme or any of our other work, please do get in touch!