Rockaway Park Community Forest Garden Project

Our Vision & How You Can Help Us Grow

Our vision is to create a magical forest garden built on permaculture principles that's accessible to all. The garden already provides a space for visitors to enjoy, while also providing an educational resource for our School of Curiosity, as well as other groups. It's also a vital source of biodiversity that will ultimately benefit the community and environment as a whole.

Stage 1 of Rockaway's Community Forest Garden Project (Complete)

The creation of the garden began during the pandemic as a way to encourage people to visit green spaces after lockdown, where they could engage with nature and reap the physical and mental health benefits. With our first fundraiser, we managed to raise enough money, as well as received treasured donations of seeds, plants, tools and valuable time, to transform a once bramble-filled space into an accessible garden with terraced beds, footpaths, trees, herbs, flowers and vegetables. We can also provide organic zero-miles food for our on-site vegan cafe, which spreads the message of ethical and sustainable practice that helps create a better world for us and the environment.

The videos below tell the full story of how and why the garden project was set up in March 2021, followed by what was achieved by the Autumn of that year. Plus, a short progress video over a year later in June 2022:

Rockaway Park Community Forest Garden Documentary Part 1 - How It All Began

Rockaway Park Community Forest Garden Documentary Part 2 - Autumn 2021

Rockaway Park Community Forest Garden Update, June 2022

Stage 2 of Rockaway's Community Forest Garden Project (Ready to Go!)

We now have plans to develop the garden for Stage 2 of the project, which includes the following:

The first stage of this exciting project has been a fantastic success, thanks to the many wonderful people who donated seeds, plants, trees, tools and money, as well as our fantastic garden volunteers who lovingly care for the garden. Thanks so much to each and every one of you - we really appreciate your help in manifesting this idea into a reality that already brings pleasure and health benefits to a lot of people.

With this second stage, we aim to engage with even more people beyond our local community. We hope to entice more visitors into the garden with increased accessibility, an increase in biodiversity, and an expansion of activities and sights that highlights the symbiosis between art and nature.

Thank you for helping us grow!

Our Reward Scheme

Here is what we can offer in return for your kind donations:

To claim your reward, please get in touch with us so that we can arrange it for you.

For large donations over £100, please get in touch so we can have a chat about what you have in mind for your very generous contribution. We will work together to make the most of your donation, as well as discuss any rewards you might like, such as a tree planted in your name, or a favourite inspirational quote carved on a sculpture. The possibilities are many!

As we make good use of your donations, more video updates will appear on this page so you can see exactly what you've helped create.

You might also like to check out our website HERE, along with our Community Forest Garden page HERE, which has our blog, garden Instagram link and other info, such as how you can volunteer to help us grow the garden. There's also info, videos and podcasts about other ways you can support our community-based projects HERE.

Thanks for reading, we really appreciate it.

(NB: For info, Marta, the beneficiary of this fundraiser, is the person who began the original transformation of the Community Forest Garden. She also manages and creates all the dishes for the Rockaway Park vegan cafe. )