The Greening Southend Project works with residents to improve the green spaces in their neighbourhoods, resulting in improved health, wellbeing and community cohesion amongst residents. The project has been running since the end of October 202.
Over the first six months we have run six resident engagement events. These have included activities such as cake and chat with residents, stalls at community events and running activities such as seed starting within established community groups. We have run nineteen sessions – resident involvement events, which encompass everything from children’s events over school holidays at local libraries, tree planting parties, setting up community gardens, joint work parties with Southend Parks to encourage local residents to take ownership of local green spaces, and supporting a local family centre to improve their community gardens.
Our most popular events have been our tree planting events and we have planted over 550 trees at 4 separate tree planting events including Gainsborough Park, Southend Hospital, the historic St Laurence Orchard, and Darlinghurst Academy. Other resident involvement events included two work parties at Southend Museum Wellbeing Garden as well as an Earth Day event. The Earth Day event saw over 50 members of the public attend to support tree planting, bed planting and seed bomb making. Two work parties at Trinity Family Centre improving their community garden, four work parties to date setting up a community garden and group on The Woodgrange Estate, also known locally as the Kursaal. We have also run 3 separate biodiversity activites for children at Southend, Kent Elms and Westcliff Library.
Any ideas for future projects or event are happily received. You can email greeningsouthend@trustlinks.org or follow us on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/GreeningSouthend
