St Luke’s Community Centre, Central Street, is celebrating three prestigious gardening accolades after receiving a Gold Award in the Islington in Bloom Competition, Gold Award for London in Bloom 2019 and Outstanding in Britain in Bloom – It’s Your Neighbourhood.
Poppy Fishman, Community Gardening Manager at St Luke’s says: “We’re thrilled with our awards, and it’s thanks to our volunteer gardening groups that keep our green areas thriving. They’re friendly, social groups, and we always welcome new faces. You don’t need any experience, just come along and enjoy the benefits of gardening all year round. We have indoor space in our large greenhouse to garden during the winter months, but there’s still lots to do in the colder weather.”
Our gardening groups meet twice a week on Tuesday and Thursday afternoons, 2-4pm. They meet all year round, and nurture all the green spaces at St Luke’s – the Edible Yard food growing area, the woodland garden and the terrace garden. The Tuesday group maintain the extensive potted flowers and shrubs on the first floor terrace, and the Thursday group work in the Edible Yard, growing and harvesting the organic produce.
The development of the green areas in St Luke’s has changed the face of the Centre in the past few years, with fresh food available for our community classes in our Cookery School from the Edible Yard, five hens laying fresh eggs daily and beautiful flowers and greenery around the Centre. There have also been several initiatives out in the community, improving other green spaces in the Borough.