Elmbridge Eco Hub - Community Garden Legacy

Aim

To secure the future of the Community Garden at the Eco Hub. Designed & nurtured by 100’s of volunteers, accessed by 1000’s of visitors.

This is match funding in a £3 for every £1 donated.

We are delighted to have the support of The WWF, The RSPB, The National Trust and Aviva Insurance For this Crowdfund.

History

The Community Garden at the Elmbridge Community Eco Hub is the first thing people see as the enter the grounds. This former bowling green, based in the heart of Walton-on-Thames, lay abandoned to abuse for almost 10 years before we were granted permission to access and convert it into a welcoming community space.  As a former bowling green, it had been a heavily manicured monoculture, discouraging any form of wildlife or plant incursion. Our mission was to create a very special space.

November 2021

On 14th November 2021, the keys to the area were handed over by the local council. The first thing we did was start cutting back the overgrown brambles, and budlea so we could safely pass through the gate and see the task at hand. At this point we (a small group of 8 people) had no tools other than those we brought from home -  a spade, form, shovel, broom, battery powered lawnmower and grass strimmer. Apart from a short break for Christmas we worked for 4 months to clean the land of overgrowth, rubble, glass and flytipped rubbish. At the same time, we were also working on converting the associated derelict building into a warm, welcoming space to house the majority of the Eco Hubs projects. 

Valentine’s Day 2022 - Present

After a huge amount of work by an ever-growing number of people, the Eco Hub opened to the public on 14th February 2022. The land had been fully cleared and a blank canvas created. We decided to divide the space into sections, maximising the impact and diversity of plants. We started work on what would become an allotment area, a sensory garden, a pond, herb garden and a perennial flower meadow. We also sewed lots of wildflower seeds in the hope of creating a wildflower meadow. Sadly, the ground is too nutrient rich for wildflowers, so over time we have added a sustainable gravel garden, a larger second pond, a fruit cage, a winter garden and very recently a garden kitchen housed within a marquee. 

2024

On the advice of a local professional gardener who started volunteering at the Hub, we will relocate many of the plants to areas of the garden best suited to their needs.  We will expand the perennial flower meadow and create a second no dig landscaped vegetable patch. All the fruit and veg grown in the garden is given away to either the volunteers, or added to the Community Fridge, for everyone to enjoy for free. 

Beyond 2024

 The land we currently occupy is earmarked for development. However, the local council are strong supporters of the work we do with and for the community and are working with us to identify a potential new home. These talks are ongoing, but we have already discussed a couple of spaces in the local area that are available and suitable for our needs.  Any one of these would provide a permanent home for the Eco Hub and all of the initiatives run within, including the garden. As such the future is bright. We will continue to work on the land we currently occupy whilst planning for the future. Funds raised via this crowdfund campaign will help us continue to work in the space, nurturing a beautiful, productive, award-winning garden whilst providing a sense of purpose and a place to meet people and make new friends for the hundreds of people who volunteer with us. Since February 2022  15,000 people have visited the garden. This includes countless visits from local schools, colleges, cub, brownie, scout, church and special needs groups. This is why it is so important to continue to provide an accessible, safe space for people to be close to nature, whilst very much feeling part of the community.

This project successfully funded on 19th December 2023