Church Street gardens will be blooming great this spring

Josie Hinton CHURCH Street gardens are set to bloom this spring as green-fingered residents take advantage of more than �20,000 of funding for outdoor projects. The cash has been allocated from the neighbourhood ward budget to transform the area and get r

Josie Hinton

CHURCH Street gardens are set to bloom this spring as green-fingered residents take advantage of more

than �20,000 of funding for outdoor projects.

The cash has been allocated from the neighbourhood ward budget to transform the area and get residents enjoying their outside space.

Four new schemes are set to be introduced including a window box project for residents' homes and community gardening for elderly Asian women.

Extra cash is also being set aside for new sports events to get residents out and about, enjoying a healthier lifestyle.

"Having all the greenery will make the area look a lot nicer," said community open spaces officer Hana Osman, who is spearheading the projects.

"But also from a health point of view, people will be growing their own fresh produce and eating lots of organic fruit and veg. Residents will be improving their health as well as reducing their carbon footprint."

The window box project is designed to give gardening opportunities to those living in flats in built-up areas.

The �10,000 budget will pay for materials including boxes and compost, as well as workshops teaching beginners how to get started.

A further �5,000 has been allocated to a community gardening scheme which will provide patches of open space for elderly Asian residents to grow their own vegetables. And �500 will be spent on bulbs that will be planted by nursery children.

Church Street Cllr Barbara Grahame said the projects would meet the huge demand for gardening opportunities in the area.

"We wrote to every resident a few months ago to ask about priorities for the ward budget and got a stack of replies from people who said they would like to try a window box or bit of gardening," she said.

"We're hoping to get going soon because spring is coming and people are eager to get started. The �20,000 has come from the remains of this year's budget, so if the projects are a success we can continue to fund them next year."

A further �5,000 is being spent on new outdoor sports activities on Sundays to get people involved in physical activities. It is hoped that football and basketball classes will take place on the Lisson Green sports pitch between noon and 4pm with further activities being run in Regent's Park

"We're hoping to team up with the Hub in Regent's Park to run our activities and we'll be looking at where the gaps are," said Ms Osman.

"At the moment we're talking about things like walking clubs, running clubs and t'ai chi.