Godwin Wellbeing for All

@Jay Smith Hi Jay, thanks for taking time to reach out. I can see where you're coming from but I think bundling things up as 'greening projects' actually sidesteps the many positive outcomes of each particular project and also from working with nature. For example a proven increase in wellbeing which I can absolutely confirm from working with the children at Godwin, enhanced creativity and out of the box thinking which is absolutely vital in these changing times, core skills that are useful for business and future careers, bringing communities together who might not otherwise mix, alongside the more obvious planting up and improving of a space which is also proven to change things for the better. I like that there is room for comment on here and one of mine is that by working together we'll achieve much more. For example if there are projects that address other things let's see if we can liaise going forward so that our joint proposals are stronger – as illustrated by the comments by the Up Garden and Sustainable Newham above.

@Jay Smith Hi Jay, just responding to this comment. The school was actively asked to apply for a larger amount and I think this is a good thing. We need ambitious projects that will lead to lasting change and improvement. This often requires money, which the school doesn't have for anything outside the curriculum, and the curriculum does not cater for everybody or the full wellbeing of our children. We have already begun our Godwin Gardening for All project by raising funds from the RHS, Groundworks London and School Food Matters and from that we were able to improve the space, make it more accessible and build a large greenhouse that also now acts as an outdoor learning zone especially in inclement weather. It has made such a different to the school including the children, teachers, assistants, key workers, parents, carers and especially children who find it more difficult to shine in an indoor teaching environment. To continue with our work we need money to grow the project to be of full benefit to the community as outlined in our proposal which will happen through further enhancing the space, the mural, and a series of workshops which will all be open to the community. I did a lot of canvassing on opinion regarding improving the space and have a large document of feedback from children, teachers, community members and organisations such as the community garden who we already work with where possible. The money will be spent on the trees (mature enough so we can harvest produce), herbs, planters, soil and implementation and maintenance, the running of the workshops including essential fees for the facilitators and their materials, marketing the project, and workshops for and facilitation of the mural. I have recently set up an extra gardening club at school to try and give more children access to the garden and skills, and we are busy setting up a social enterprise where we can harvest our produce ie seeds, propagated plants, edibles, herbs and sell them to the community to make our garden self-sufficient. We also want to run lots of events where everyone can use our space. Rhyl Kitchen is North London is a good example. I teach over 200 children every 2 weeks, which benefits them but also the teachers, and their parents and carers who have all commented on the improved wellbeing that it brings. Got to go for now but happy to discuss further. Thanks! Ps Have you proposed a project?

@Sonya Patel Ellis Thank you very much for all the detail which does help me understand more, but can you confirm there will be only 10 workshops, and how many will be for the schoolkids and how many will be for the community, or are you saying all 10 workshops are for the schoolkids only and that "community" means their families, not the wider forest gate community? What im getting at is, how i will personally benefit from this because i want to vote for things that i will get to enjoy.

@Sonya Patel Ellis Would still like to know the answers to these questions please. Appreciate you must be busy, and thanks for answering the first lot as some of these projects aren't answering anything. I just want to properly understand these projects before I use my votes.