The UP Garden Forest Gate•3 years ago This project has been completed. Read progress updates below...AUGUST 2023: PROPOSALThe UP Garden would like to bring literature, art and science to the community in the form of:
a book exchange. We have inherited a vintage phone box which we want to transform into a weather-proofed shelter for people to donate and take/borrow books either to read at The UP Garden or at home, to encourage reading for pleasure and improve literacy;
a community piano. Pianos are considered a gateway to learning other instruments, but their size and cost mean most people do not have access. We want to buy a second-hand one and build a weather-proofed cabinet to encourage more interest in music and learning to play; and
a nature trail. We want to buy rubbing plaques featuring UK wildlife to place around for visitors to find and learn from via paper checklists which could include educational information.
All of these allow visitors to enjoy The UP Garden independently and at their own convenience, encourage existing visitors to come more often, and hopefully attract new visitors. They also enhance the space generally.Moreover, The UP Garden want to use a small portion of funds to participate at more third party events during 2024 to help more Newham residents discover The UP Garden.Volunteers will be involved in delivering all four elements of this project, so we are only seeking £4,000 to do so (well below the maximum £20,000 we could apply for). This is very good value for a book exchange, community piano, and nature trail, which will be available to anyone all day, every day, for free, and for long past this funding scheme's project timescale (31 December 2024).PRIORITIESThis project helps to address:
HEALTH & WELLBEING as maintaining interests like reading or playing an instrument is beneficial to mental health, as is being sociable and around nature (which this project also encourages).
COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT & PARTICIPATION as it will require volunteer help and, once delivered, will encourage more visitors to The UP Garden. The more that local residents socialise, this increases the community’s sense of belonging and getting on well together. The vintage phone box book exchange, community piano, and rubbing plaques, also provide talking points, thus encouraging socialisation across cultures.
COMMUNITY SAFETY as the more attractive The UP Garden looks, and the more reasons there are to visit, the busier it is as well as the surrounding estate. This reduces the likelihood of anti-social behaviour and improves the feeling of safety.
CONSULTATIONWe have been consulting our community. We have had queries relating to a door for the book exchange to protect from rain (this has already been factored into the design) and the noise of the piano (there are various measures which we will be exploring). The response has been overwhelmingly positive.THE UP GARDENFor those not yet familiar with us, lots of information is available at www.theUPgarden.org or you can follow us on social media @theUPgarden.DECEMBER 2023:CONFIRMATION OF AWARDThank you to everyone who voted - we have been awarded funding and are very excited to make these lovely ideas a reality! There will be opportunities to get involved over Spring and Summer 2024. The easiest way to keep updated on those is to follow us on instagram, facebook or twitter @theUPgarden, or pop in to see us in person during our Social Weedia sessions which are every Wednesday 4-5pm).JANUARY 2024:PROJECT PLANNINGFour of The UP Garden's Committee members put themselves forward to lead our PPP project, and met to agree the broad strategy, timelines and who would be responsible for each of the project elements.Whilst the Project Leads cracked on with their tasks, the Project Manager started working their way through the paperwork: gathering documentation for the Council's administrative requirements, drafting templates for project work, and creating the year-long project planner required to keep this project on budget and on schedule!FEBRUARY 2024:NATURE TRAIL - COMMUNITY INPUTWe consulted with the community to help us design the nature trail by asking them to vote on their favourite wildlife designs. This was done in-person at one of our event days, and an online survey was also circulated for anyone who could not make it on the day. The nature trail team also started designing how the rubbing plaques will be affixed to our existing furniture.The book exchange team have started planning out the preliminary renovation work on the phone box, whilst the community piano team have been researching designs for the weather-proof cabinet.MARCH 2024:COMMUNITY PIANO - COMMUNITY INPUTWe engaged with the community to help us research how to design the cabinet for the community piano, and have been having discussions with a Forest Gate artist to potentially create some exciting artwork to go on it.We also consulted with a Manor Park furniture designer (who has already renovated a phone box) for advice for our book exchange.We received our first instalment of funds, so we have purchased the rubbing plaques for the nature trail, and have been trouble-shooting some logistical issues on how they will be affixed.If you would like to help with this project, here is our Schedule of Sessions and you can register for pre-book sessions here.APRIL 2024:BOOK EXCHANGE - PREPARATIONWe have started preparing the phone box for renovation. It's in a worse state than anticipated so the glass-clearing and surface-rubbing is taking up a lot of sessions. Once that's done, we can move onto priming and painting it, then tackling the inside.We continue to design the cabinet for the community piano, whilst the nature trail is ready for installation and will be unveiled at our Springtide event.MAY 2024:NATURE TRAIL - COMPLETEDWe showcased 4 of the rubbing plates at our stall at the Green Fair on 6 May.We installed and unveiled our nature trail at our Springtide event on 27 May, which can be enjoyed in a variety of ways both online and without technology - people can scan a code to try a particular hunt, or scan the plaque codes to read educational information about that species of wildlife, or they can hunt for all 16, or they can create etchings from the plaques.We continue to prepare the phone box for renovation, and are troubleshooting and fine-tuning the design for the cabinet for the community piano.JUNE 2024:
COMMUNITY PIANO - DESIGNINGWe have been working through different designs for the cabinet to keep the piano dry taking into account practicality, access and budget.We continue to prepare the phone box for renovation.We also presented an update of our project to hundreds of local residents at the 'Our Projects' event on 20 June.JULY 2024:PARTICIPATING IN OTHER COMMUNITY INITIATIVESA small portion of funds was allocated towards participating at other events during 2024 to help more Newham residents discover The UP Garden. In addition to the stall we hosted at Sustainable Newham's Green Fair back in May, we finished this element of the project in July by hosting stalls at Forest Gate Festival and Frames Of Mind's Cycle Street Party.We continued cleaning and sanding the phone box, and finalising the materials list for the piano cabinet. The nature trail will be publicised at all of our weekly Friends of Urban Nature events over the summer.AUGUST 2024:NATURE TRAIL - COMMUNITY USEIn addition to its everyday availability, the nature trail was publicised at all of our family activities sessions over the summer. Most families preferred to engage with it just by searching for all 16 and making rubbings with thin paper and graphite pencils, but some also used smartphones to access the educational information.The glass-clearing and surface-rubbing of the phone box has nearly finished and is being primed and painted, ready for installation of the glass panes. The materials for the piano cabinet have been delivered and cut to size, and await transport to The UP Garden so the cabinet can be built on site.SEPTEMBER 2024:BOOK EXCHANGE - PREPARATION WORK COMPLETEDThe phone box has now been primed and painted, and the glass panes installed. The next step will be to design the internal floor, shelves layout, and door.The materials for the piano cabinet await construction at The UP Garden, and we are now researching a suitable piano within budget.There is a small chance the community piano will be ready to be unveiled at our Autumntide event, but it is more likely that both will be unveiled at our Wintertide event instead (per the contingency plan in our original timeline).OCTOBER 2024:COMMUNITY PIANO - CONSTRUCTIONVolunteers built and painted the weatherproof cabinet, and a local artist donated their time to paint the external surfaces to turn it into a 3D artwork. The piano was donated by a Forest Gate resident. It was made in the early 1900s, a 10-minute walk from The UP Garden. We held a soft launch at our Autumntide event where it attracted all ages. We have further finishing touches to complete over the next month.The phone box awaits installation of the shelves and door, and should be ready to be unveiled by our Wintertide event.NOVEMBER 2024:BOOK EXCHANGE - COMMUNITY INPUT; COMPLETEDVolunteers installed the vinyl decal signage, internal floor, shelves, and external signage, whilst carpenters fitted the bespoke door. The public donated books ready for its unveiling at our upcoming Wintertide event.Unfortunately, simply moving the weatherproof cabinet for the piano about a metre to its final position revealed how uneven the ground was, which caused significant leaning. We also discovered an issue with the materials ordered. We used the savings from discounts and donations from elsewhere in the project to pay for a carpenter to rectify and fortify it, and it should be ready in time for its Wintertide relaunch.DECEMBER 2024:COMMUNITY PIANO - COMPLETED; COMMUNITY USEThe rectification of the weatherproof cabinet for the piano was completed, and the artist returned to add artwork to the internal surfaces so that it looks just as cheery when opened. It was relaunched at our Wintertide event where it again attracted people of all ages. One of our volunteers has since witnessed a member of the public visiting The UP Garden purely to come and play the piano.The book exchange was also unveiled at Wintertide along with a speech, and has received lots of positive comments.PROJECT COMPLETEDWe give huge thanks to:
the hundreds of people who provided input both online and at our in-person workshops, voted for this project, provided advice or recommendations, or have supported or engaged with our project in any way;
the businesses who were involved - we tried to use Newham (or East London) suppliers wherever possible to contribute to the local economy. The carpenters, sign-makers, artist, timber merchant, piano owner, mover, and tuner, all gave discounts or donated services/items - the total savings are estimated to be around £2,500;
the 25 volunteers who in total have donated well over 500 hours to delivering this project, which equates to £6,925 of free labour (based on the London Living Wage), or £9,975 if taking into account the proportion of skilled labour that would have attracted a much higher hourly rate.
As the nature trail, book exchange and community piano should last for many years to come, we look forward to the thousands of visitors to The UP Garden each year getting to enjoy these new features. We have since won separate funding for an additional weatherproof shelter for the community piano cabinet to give it extra longevity, construction of which is already underway and should be completed over the next month or so. We will provide an in-person update at the "Our Neighbourhood" event on 22 January 2025, and will continue to post about the nature trail, book exchange and community piano from time to time on our Instagram/Facebook/Twitter @theUPgarden.
