GG turns 20: A life story, through Kathryn’s eyes

How time flies.

We first met when you were 13 and I was 18. You had just started exploring Canada Water and made yourself known to the community pretty quickly, in my eyes. I had never heard your name before, but somehow you introduced yourself to my friends from Sixth Form and pretty soon we grew our own crew in a little hideaway, in a factory I used to walk past after school. 

“Do you want to join a new club, doing gardening and some stuff for the environment?” My friends asked me. 

Confused, and somewhat intrigued, I said yes and followed them the next Thursday to a place called the Paper Garden, by a charity called Global Generation.

“What on earth are we doing in an old newspaper factory?” I wondered. And, “Wow, I’ve always wondered what this place looked like behind the fence”. 

Little did I know that behind that grey, metal fence were new skills, new ways of thinking and new ways of connecting waiting for me. Somehow stepping into that old factory opened a side of me that I didn’t know could be expressed in the concrete city I’d known all my life. 

I soon heard about your other crew of young people in King’s Cross and all of us in our Canada Water crew begged Emma [Trueman] and Jane [Riddiford] to let us all meet. And they made it happen. It was nerve-wracking to welcome these North Londoners into what had become my little haven in my beloved South East. Silvia [Pedretti]’s warm smile soon eased my nerves.

“They’re just like us”, and, “Do you think we have enough food?” We said to each other. 

And just like that, I realised that I was connected to something bigger than just our crew. Everything we were doing with our Thursday sessions, my volunteer days and the school workshops Sue [Amos] told me about were happening in their garden too! And all in the same city. Incredible. 

I heard you grew the Skip Garden from a small plot in the heart of King’s Cross, creating a garden with glass houses, shipping containers and rooms for the community to come together. Seeing it myself was nuts. There’s no other way to describe it. You even birthed a baby Paper Garden from its bare indoor classroom in the Printworks, with the paper yurt we built from old blueprints of the factory. And then you were ready for a garden. Do you remember all the woodchips we shovelled, transforming the car park into a garden? And slowly, but surely, it came. 

Finally, a way for me to connect to the faint memories of picking and cooking with peppers from my grandpa’s land in Nigeria, right here.

A few years later, Jane invited me to see the new garden you’d be building. I was very confused when it was just a concrete floor by the British Library. I didn’t see that you’d become the Story Garden I’ve grown to love. You gave what I had in Canada Water, to the community here.

Wow GG, you’ve been so much more than I could’ve imagined. I can’t wait to see what you’ll do next! You’re growing tentacles now and are getting ready to welcome a new community in a different area. I have no doubt that you’ll do what you’ve done before; you’ve nourished so many. Even more than that, you’ve opened your arms to refugees, and people from all walks of life… Many times when the only common language was the taste of potatoes from your garden, or the smell of mint leaves in your planters. You’ve welcomed local leaders, businesses, families, young, old, critters, slugs, bees, foxes and bats. I know you’ll do many new things too and I’ll be here cheering you on.

I’ve seen people find their voice because of you. Connect. Step out. And believe they can make a change.

I’ve been with you on both sides of that coin. First as a young person on the programmes, to a volunteer, and member of staff. I learned a lot about myself and was inspired by the people I worked with everyday. We’ve been policy-changers, professional camp-goers, leaders, friends and, probably most importantly, we’ve been facilitators. People holding space and building spaces for learning and connecting.

So here’s to celebrating your first 20 years and welcoming the next. Can’t wait.

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Notes from the Garden