Groundwork London

Service description:

Groundwork provides a community landscape service with a broad range of activities including environmental volunteering, workshops and events. Funded by H&F, it works to improve communal areas on estates and in public open spaces

Funded until:

31 March 2021

Annual funding level:

£45,000

What this service achieved in the past year...

Number of residents supported:

1,000+

Use of volunteers:

Number of volunteers involved: 132
Number of volunteer hours delivered: 1,308
Value of volunteer hours provided: £12,753

Outcomes/impact for residents:

197 residents participated in community garden sessions and nature-based activities
646 accessed information and advice, guidance and educational programmes
232 took part in training and mentoring programmes for young people
498 participated in community and food-growing activities
496 took part in community activities, consultation, volunteering and well-being programmes
425 were encouraged to be actively involved in community improvement projects
202 took part in walking/cycle sessions

User feedback:

“Thanks to the new garden and gardening sessions I have been able to enjoy the new outdoor space and grow fresh vegetables.”

“I am really thankful for a space to grow my own fruit and vegetables.”

“The gardening sessions are really fun and informative, and Jane the gardener is very knowledgeable and friendly.”

Funding raised:

£118,281 through external fundraising

Other achievements/future plans

Project highly commended in the Planning & Placemaking awards 2016 London category
It won two Landscape Institute awards for adding value to a landscape, and the Fellows award for climate adaptation
Groundwork attended a meeting at Rainville estate with H&F to discuss a proposal to transform a sunken ball court into a food-growing garden
It raised interest and awareness about climate change on housing estates via creative design and innovative ways of working
A new community group has been formed at Cheeseman’s Terrace to plan activities across the estate for the whole community
There has been collaborative working with Good Gym, where volunteers spent 15 hours clearing and painting an old storage unit
A new working relationship has been forged with Shepherds Bush Housing Association, with funding being secured for a landscape project
Groundwork secured EU funding for a pan-London health and well-being programme, Trifocal, emphasising food-growing, healthy eating and food waste reduction, working with community groups and schools
Two hundred standards trees are being planted in seven H&F estates, thanks to Groundwork securing City Hall funding. Work is being done by the award-winning Green Team, working with nine partner groups, including a training scheme which enhances young people’s employment prospects, H&F Housing, seven tenant and resident associations, and Quadron
Housing estates improvement programme funding will create up to eight projects in 2017
The repurpose team and H&F Housing aim to fund the White City Loop beyond 2017