Graham Street Park Community Orchard

Aim

Establish a community orchard in our little park by Regents Canal in central London, to benefit locals, esp nursery and school-age children.

The Historical context of Graham Street Park

The Regents Canal City Road Basin area on the Islington-Hackney boundary was heavily bombed during the WW2 Blitz due to the presence of the Diespeker & Co factory on the canalside, which supplied chemicals for the war effort.

Post-war

Permission was granted for private residential high-rises to be built on the former factory site, but a thriving green space had emerged in the interim, and locals strongly resisted its destruction. As a result of their efforts, Graham Street Park was formally established in the 1960s.

Present day

Graham Street Park continues to have an amazing range of uses for the local community, including micro-allotments, composting areas, a free library, a butterfly corridor, an insect hotel, a playground, a football pitch, waterside benches and paces for picnickers, yoga enthusiasts, and dog walkers.

The Orchard 

The Graham Street Park Community Orchard will serve as a central point for educational events and activities around themes such as; the seasonal growing cycle, urban food growing, permaculture, climate change, biodiversity and jam/pickle/cider making,

The project is the result of a partnership between Friends of Graham Street Park (FROGS) and The Orchard Project, the only national charity dedicated to creating, restoring, and celebrating community orchards. It aims for everyone in cities across the UK to be within easy reach of a thriving community orchard.

The community

Islington is one of the most socio-economically diverse councils in the country, and the aim is to include as wide a range of local stakeholders as possible in the educational opportunities the orchard will offer, with a particular focus on nursery and school-age children.

This project successfully funded on 27th December 2023