A group of volunteers has ensured a community gardening project in Hoxton will continue to have a positive impact on the local community despite losing its government funding.
The Hoxton Trust Gardening Club, which was founded under the name ‘Our Food, Our Garden’ in November 2022, had received its funding from the government via the mental health charity Mind. However, in September 2023 that source of income was cut, leaving it up to volunteers to step in.
Stephen Mason, the Community Gardener for the project told the Hackney Post: “There were so many people participating, with more and more people turning up… Lots of people said they made so many new friends or were so happy to have the opportunity to get back into gardening, because they don’t have a garden in the city.
“We will do the same things as before just without the money, and continue growing organic food.”
The project was set up to help people’s mental health by giving city residents an opportunity to engage with nature and connect with other people in their local community. Mason said: “I believe that physically and mentally connecting with our natural environment is part of what being a human is about. We have forgotten our engagement with nature and have divided ourselves away so much that it’s almost become an enemy.”
The gardening club, which takes place at the Hoxton Trust community garden on Hoxton Street, runs on Wednesdays and Thursdays from 12pm to 4pm. Volunteers of any experience level are welcome to join and help grow organic produce. The garden also has a stall set up to give out free hot drinks and biscuits.
David Manning, a local resident who helps out at the gardening club said, “it’s like a little oasis, there’s not much greenery around here. It has helped me because last summer it was so hot, and I needed to get outside. It’s so nice seeing the same faces and making friends here.”
The Hoxton Trust is a charity which, as well as providing the garden for the Hoxton Trust Gardening Club, offers free legal advice to those living in Hackney. At the garden, it also hosts events for the community such as free yoga and Zumba classes.
