Blooming Beds and Bees was Living Under One Sun’s
heart-warming response to tensions in Tottenham after the riots in 2011.
Residents, young and old and from all walks of life, learnt together and
collaborated to create 12 green growing places
- bringing nature closer to communities and communities closer together!
A 21-week course trained ‘community champions’ in project
management, food growing, horticulture and biodiversity. Volunteers included 28
local residents who became food growers, with 23 trainees also becoming
beekeepers, including 4 young people.
People from different generations and cultures then joined
forces to turn 12 derelict or unused patches of land into beautiful growing
spaces – giving several neighbourhoods a positive sense of pride and purpose.
The project also:
- raised residents awareness
of nature, actively engaging 20 community groups, 7 schools, 2 children’s
centres and 2 colleges;
- created a tailored community champions
training manual, 3 of whom secured jobs
- celebrated the community’s achievements –
including 66 jars of urban honey - at a Blooming Beds and Bees festival,
held opposite where the riot took place.
After the project, 43 jobs were created after the project
ended in 2013 as LUOS went on to successfully develop & deliver community
outreach programmes, with The Conservation Trust naming Living Under One Sun as
Community Group of the Year for 2011/12!
Watch the Blooming Beds and Bees DVD at
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nITNZAEOuBw longer version 16 minutes