Celebrating Siw Thomas, wonderful friend and colleague at Global Generation
Since hearing of Siw’s illness and passing, I have felt her everywhere; in the warming spring soil, in scraps of wood I see on the street, in enamel cups stored in a box in the kitchen ready for instant coffee. I have felt her continue to guide me to be playful in motherhood through my memories of her steadfast support and encouragement as I worked alongside her for the past 8 years. Siw was there on my first week as a garden intern, guiding me in how to use a drill. She was there on my last week before maternity leave, showing me that I could put up polytunnel shelves despite a bigger belly. She was there every week in between, if she wasn’t off on an adventure herself. I think I hadn't fully comprehended the huge impact Siw had on mine and the Paper Garden’s journey until I knew she would not be there when I returned to work. She has guided me through deciding how many seeds to sow, to the larger of life's challenges, and also up mountains.
It has long been said that Global Generation’s gardens are made of a thousand hands. Each effort is crucial… Some of those hands sow one precious seed in a workshop, others come back and sow more, sometimes well into the thousands. Siw sowed seeds of ideas by the bucket load, and seeds of plants by the barrow. She shovelled soil quicker than us, and always took the time to have tea and cake, without failing to check in with the plants and people alike. Siw enjoyed the hard work, the jobs that others might not take too. Although she was more fond of a cable tie than myself (even when there were none restocked in the tool shed they would still appear, I’m pretty sure she had access to her own secret stash), her work was always beautifully creative. The gardens would not hold the same playful, hardworking, and honesty that they hold if it had not been for Siw’s input. Though she would certainly be humble in accepting such praise. Siw strongly disliked being called a “star”, but I cannot think of a better word to describe her light that so many were drawn to, her fire that so many drew warmth and wisdom from.
Siw began the work at Paper Garden with Jane, dreaming the old printworks factory into a paper palace field with childrens creations. She gathered the first plants that sat in the old smoking shelter that we would then convert into the greenhouse. As the garden grew, Siw taught myself and others so much about the way of the world and has been an inspiration of how I aim to show up. Being alongside her in workshops, I was privileged to witness how young people would listen intently as she spoke softly and grow in excitement as she worked alongside them to create new sculptures out of scraps of card. It was Siw who encouraged me to experiment with seed sowing, to push against rules and use them, Siw who continued to remind us to ensure the local communities needs were being considered, Siw who lit fires in the depth of that lockdown in winter.
Some of my favourite memories of Siw are those from our youth camps. In her element, she would lead us on adventures across hills and rivers, while back at base always ensured the fire was lit by herself or the young people who had taken a shine to her and the task at hand. She encouraged the staff to take a swim break, and conjured cake from barely any ingredients alongside chef Sadhbh. Crucially, she gave space for the young people to exist, to explore, to imagine.
Her absence will be felt as the garden moves through the seasons. Together in our grief, we have planted a Fire Garden for Siw, filled with a Damson tree, Fox and Cubs, orange Geoms, and scattered Welsh Poppies. Terracotta ceramics will be added. As we shared our memories of Siw together with her family, we felt truly blessed to have been in the company of such a powerful soul. Siw’s impact on the staff, friends and young people at Global Generation will echo in our actions as the gardens grow.
For Nicole, this poem captures what we all shared when we came together to remember Siw and what a force of nature, kind, strong, cheeky, supportive and amazing person she was. Though we shared memories that were in the past, we all recognised that her presence lives on in everything we see and touch in the garden. There is a little bit of Siw everywhere ...
Let us not look for you only in memory,
Where we would grow lonely without you.
You would want us to find you in presence,
Beside us when beauty brightens,
When kindness glows
And music echoes eternal tones.
- John O'Donohue
Siw’s presence will be felt in the flames she ignited and the seeds she sowed in our hearts and soil.
Notes from the Garden
I wake to a bright crisp winter’s day. Finally … after weeks of storms ravaging the country.
As the year ends we are reminded of the magic and beauty that our gardens bring, as places to come together and celebrate, even in difficult times. This year it has been challenging not to be taken over by fear and despair, with extreme weather events being mirrored in different ways across the world, from floods to droughts; with the most recent political events; with wars destroying land and displacing entire populations; and with the constant increase in the cost of living creating ever more inequalities between those that have and those that do not.