Opening Up the Garden
From "Forest Gate & Maryland Community Assemblies 2022"
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Forest Gate Community Garden is a flourishing community resource. We provide a safe place for local residents to relax, meet friends, engage with nature, volunteer and learn.
Everyone is welcome, but currently our visitors and volunteers do not accurately reflect the local community. Many ethnic minorities are underrepresented, but in particular those of Bangladeshi heritage.
Wanting to ensure everyone has access to the Garden, we took part in a research project with University College London to see how to overcome the barriers to participation. We came up with over 20 actions to widen our range of visitors and volunteers. The top priority is to engage a temporary Bengali speaking Outreach worker, to work over 9 months with families, older and isolated people to encourage them to visit the Garden and participate in activities of their choice.
The project will help the development of Forest Gate by promoting the use of a safe green space for a larger number of local residents. Expanding the use of the Garden to groups who have not previously used it will improve their mental and physical health, their well-being and their participation in local community events and activities.
