Garden for Good

June 1, 2023

On Sunday 21st May, 5 young ladies accompanied by Dr Sandra Forest (Director of Specialist Programmes) from Marymount International School London joined Bromley & Croydon Women’s Aid to transform the…

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On Sunday 21^st May, 5 young ladies accompanied by Dr Sandra Forest (Director of Specialist Programmes) from Marymount International School London joined Bromley & Croydon Women’s Aid to transform the garden of a domestic abuse refuge!

The school students, part of Marymount’s Eco-Schools Committee, came up with the idea to carry out a charity gardening project back in September 2022. The school’s Social Justice Committee researched charities in the area and got in touch with Bromley & Croydon Women’s Aid, sharing their desire to design and implement a beautiful garden to aid refuge residents’ journey of recovery from the trauma of abuse.

Once everything was confirmed, the school’s Cultural Diversity Committee organized the garden design competition encouraging students of all ages to design a garden based on the specification given and to incorporate creative ways for victims/survivors of domestic abuse to benefit from nature. The school’s Lecture Series Committee even got involved by organizing a talk from the Vice-President of the New York Botanical Garden.

With all the entries showing such creativity and thoughtfulness, the team at BCWA struggled to choose a winning design. Residents at the refuge were asked what they would like to see in the garden and their feedback was incorporated with elements of the favourite entries to create the final garden design.

With the young ladies part of the Eco-schools Committee eager to volunteer their time for the planting and construction of the garden, they tasked the school’s Fundraising Committee to raise funds for the purchase of plants and other garden items. An incredible £1,872 was raised through various fundraising activities, including a teacher talent show, a bake sale and a wear-it-neon day.

Thanks to all of the student’s hard work, the garden at the refuge is looking wonderful with a stunning flower bed, a large memorial arch in honour of an ex-service-user and staff member, a garden table and chairs, a children’s play slide, solar powered fairy lights and a herb/vegetable box. The school also donated gardening tools to enable the women living in the refuge to care for the plants as they grow.

The residents at the refuge shared that the garden is a lovely refreshing change, especially now it is summer and they are sitting around the new table and chairs together. One resident said that they particularly enjoy watching the bumble bees around the lavender and the colourful flowers brighten their day. A big thank you for the hard work of everyone involved, it is beautiful.

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