BLOG
Notes from the garden
Stories of place
By the bright yellow gate of the Story Garden, apples and quinces hang from the young trees beyond their harvesting month, still in half-way-home soil bags. Other young trees rustle their remaining leaves within embracing crescents, nourished by the stories that feed them, encircling a story-telling fire drum where I sit with one family of newly arrived Afghan refugees - invited to this space from nearby half-way temporary hotels.
BEING A GENERATOR AND WEX STUDENT AT PAPER GARDEN
Rhaina Marshall, 18 years old, reflects on her work experience placement with Global Generation: You may ask- what does Global Generation do for the community? Or perhaps some are asking: what is the Paper Garden? These are questions I believe are essential to answer when discussing my own experiences as a Generator and as a student completing their work experience with Global Generation, because I have seen how important they are for the community.
LAUNCHING FILMS FOR THE LISTENING SPACE
Lucy Shiekh has been involved in Global Generation for over five years, first as a Generator (youth social activist), then as a Voices of the Earth Fellow. Her latest role as a community action researcher has been made possible thanks to a pioneering partnership with Dr Jane Myat and her colleagues involved in ‘The Listening Space’ an organic garden and associated activities, that sit in and around The Caversham Group Practice in Kentish Town. Financial support for Global Generation’s Action Research involvement with the Listening Space, came from UCL Partners. This is what Lucy has to say about her experience.
A YEAR OF CONCENTRIC CHANGES: HOW YOUNG PEOPLE HAD AN IMPACT ON ME, THE LOCAL COMMUNITY, THE CLIMATE, AND THEMSELVES
I think about the discussion we had online and now I ask myself what would I select for a golden record that portrays the journey of the Story Garden’s youth groups? What feelings, challenges and learnings would they want to speak about?
Reflecting on the transition from participant to facilitator
I am Abena and as of a few weeks ago I have just begun my journey as an Assistant Youth Proects Coordinator.
BUILDING A PAPER GARDEN (PART 2)
For many years now, I have said that Global Generation has thrived in the slipstream of other people’s waste. Thanks to forward thinking property developers like British Land and Argent, we have been able to locate our community projects inside and adjacent to large scale construction projects. Inhabiting spaces that are usually out of bounds for community groups, means we are well placed to establish a circular culture which many in the construction world refer to as a circular economy.
A SPACE THAT NEVER LEAVES YOU
First impressions are something that always stick with you. I was first introduced to the Listening Space garden in the heart of the Caversham GP practice, during the first lockdown in 2020. It was a sunny day in the middle of spring where everything was in its peak of bloom.
Voices of the universe
Much of what I have brought to Global Generation’s work in London has roots in the group of islands 18,300 km across the seas that form Aotearoa New Zealand; the land where I was born. The Covid pandemic meant that what might have been a brief trip for me and my husband, Rod Sugden, to visit my 95-year-old mother turned into a five-month stay.
PASSING THE BATON
It’s early evening and I am sitting by the door in the Story Garden classroom as I listen to the words; “feel your feet on the ground, feel your breath, find a way to sit very still.” I feel my heart pounding and I focus on the words, my body, the feeling in the room. As the simple and gentle instructions keep coming, the room drops into a shared space of silence and I relax.
A seat at the table
We often think of the Summer Solstice as a peak, climactic moment to sum up the best times of our year and a sign to renew our energy for the rest of the year. What if it’s more than that?
Making the new paper garden (part 1)
“To re-inhabit the places in which we live is not to raze the smokestacks and freeways that we might find there but to fit them back into the larger unfolding of land and cosmos.”
— Freya Mathews
Voices of the earth photography Exhibition
After weeks of planning and preparation we have finally launched the exhibition, our year-long project “The Voices of the Earth" has been brought to fruition! I think it is safe to say the exhibition was a success due to all the smiles and participation from our guests who visited on the evening of the 10th of June.
MY EXPERIENCE AS A CLIMATE AND FOOD AMBASSADOR
We hear the words ‘climate change’ in the news and it often washes over our heads. For a lot of people, it’s something so distant from our everyday realities that even if you want to help you might not even know where or how to start.
IMPACT! EARTH, CLIMATE AND FOOD GROWING: OUR FOOD AMBASSADORS' JOURNEY SO FAR
“Recognising that sustainable development, democracy and peace are indivisible is an idea whose time has come... Today we are faced with a challenge that calls for a shift in our thinking, so that humanity stops threatening its life-support system. We are called to assist the Earth to heal her wounds and in the process heal our own - indeed, to embrace the whole of creation in all its diversity, beauty and wonder.”
— Wangari Maathai
VOICES OF THE UNIVERSE
Much of what I have brought to Global Generation’s work has roots in the group of islands 18,300 km across the seas from London that form Aotearoa New Zealand; the land where I was born. The covid pandemic meant that what might have been a brief trip for me and my husband, Rod Sugden, to visit my 95-year-old mother turned into a five-month stay.
FROM THE WILD WOOD TO THE URBAN FOREST
Living in the city, trees are a precious resource so often overlooked and neglected, yet are a defining character of our streets, highways and parks. For those of us who love them, they bring nature close to us, and we may get to know a few intimately if we pass them each day or watch them changing through the seasons from windows and balconies.
A WORKSHOP AT KAICYCLE – WELLINGTON, NEW ZEALAND
Sitting in a circle, with a group of teenagers choosing values that mean something to them, could easily be what you might find in one of Global Generation’s London gardens. This time, Rod and I were having a parallel but different experience.
FROM THE HEART OF A NEW ZEALAND NATIVE FOREST
I am sitting here overlooking a huge bush-clad gulley north of Auckland in Aotearoa, New Zealand. Ahead of me is a thick green mantle of forest giants; rimu, kahikatea, tanekaha and three huge kauri that tower above the other trees. In hot weather kererū, the native wood pigeons, swoop through the forest in their mating dance, and tui sing their trickster tale songs.
A FLOATING GARDEN SLOWLY COMING TO LIFE
The Spring Equinox. A perfect balance between night and day. And now the days are getting longer and warmer. For many across the world this is the celebration of the new year. Which makes so much more sense than our calendar years.
UPDATES FROM THE PAPER GARDEN
As we edge closer towards spring I have found myself reflecting on the year before in the Paper Garden, where we saw more time spent among the plants than people. We have built so many new growing beds that I have lost count, and seen an influx of birds and smaller crawling creatures to the habitat we are creating.