On 14 May 2021 Southall’s second ‘Incredible Edible’ raised bed was ‘unveiled’ outside Greenfields Nursery School and Children’s Centre on Recreation Road.
This latest mini edible garden was made possible thanks to contributions from Ealing Council, Southall Lions Club, Greenfields Nursery School, The Transition Network / National Lottery Community Fund and volunteers. It will soon be ready for the public to enjoy fresh pickings. Read more
On 7th march 2020 volunteers planted daffodils and the last set of fruit trees at Dormers Wells Sports Ground/ Mount Pleasant Fields bringing phase 5 of the project to completion.
The new orchard is now comprised of 50 apple trees of several varieties. With phase 5 complete we can now say that the Southall Orchard Project has been successfully delivered.
The Dormers Wells Orchard was officially declared ‘open’ by The Mayor of Ealing, Dr Councillor Abdullah Gulaid and Varindra Sharma, MP for Ealing Southall.
The apple trees planted include:
Dabinett, Laxton’s Superb, Peasgood’s Nonsuch, Red Devil,
Ribston Pippin, Rosette™, Scrumptious® and Malus Laura.
This phase of the project was funded by:
The Mayor of London’s Greener City Fund and My Playgreen – Timberland, managed by the King Baudouin Foundation.
The Phase 5 delivery team included:
Mani Dhanda, Chair of Southall Transition, Tana D Scott, Project Manager, Sanjay Synghal, Team Coordinator, Hishaam Shamaun and Joyce Rundell
We’d like to say a final big thank you to everyone involved in helping to deliver the Southall Orchard Project over the last five years. A full list of credits will be published on this website soon.
On the 13th February 2020, children and teachers from Allenby Primary School, students from Featherstone High School and Uxbridge College and volunteers from Green ‘S’ Welfare Force Wing UK helped us plant the first trees at Dormers Wells Sport Ground. The fifth and final orchard will comprise 50 apple trees of varying varieties.
The orchard will be completed at the next community planting event which will take place on Saturday 7th March 2020, 12pm to 2pm.
It’s free to participate and if you would like to help, please register at Eventbrite so we know how many refreshments to provide.
Volunteers are asked to ensure that they wear sturdy foot wear and dress appropriate for the weather. Tools will be provided.
This event takes place at:
Dormers Wells Lane, Southall, UB1 3JB
Sixty seven people helped to complete the Spikes Bridge Park Orchard on the final planting day which took place at a community event on Saturday 9th March 2019.
The orchard was officially declared ‘open’ by the Mayor of Ealing, Cllr Tejinder Dhami, who along with Virendra Sharma, MP for Ealing Southall, also planted a Rosette Apple tree before unveiling a new interpretation board with Cllr Ranjit Dheer OBE, the Deputy Leader of Ealing Council and other Councillors.
By Arif Hussain
Over 300 volunteer hours have gone into this phase of the project and Spikes Bridge Park now has 25 new fruit and nut trees. Varieties include:
Apple (Malus) Bramley, Apple (Malus) Rosette, Plum (Prunus) Hangata, Pear (Pyrus) Concorde, Cherry (Prunus) Tamara, Apricot (Prunus) Bergeron, Hazelnut (Kentish Cob) and Hazelnut (Red Cracker)
Volunteer Quotes
“What impresses me most about the Southall Orchard Project is that this event-organised planting of fruit trees in local parks has motivated people of many backgrounds and ages to join together in goodwill to create something which will provide long term benefit to all life.” Tana D Scott
“The orchard planting at Spikesbridge Park was a great community event, attended by Transition volunteers and members of the community with their children. A good selection of fruit trees planted and all well protected by strong metal cages. An added bonus were the spring flowers and bulbs planted round the bases of the trees which will enhance the overall effect. The whole event was well organised and it was encouraging to see the support of the local MP and Mayor.” Joyce Rundell
“The volunteers were all encouraging and enthusiastic, so much so that we finished well on schedule before the dignitaries cut the ribbon! Passers-by certainly wanted to know what was going on and we’re impressed as well.” Peter Ward
This phase of the project was carried out with support from the Mayor of London’s Greener City Fund and MyPlaygreen – Timberland, managed by the King Baudouin Foundation. We are are also grateful to Kerry Foods/ Noon Products Ltd for their donation.
On the 13th February 2019, children and teachers from Lady Margaret Primary School with help from Ealing Council’s Park Ranger team, got the ball rolling on phase 4 of the Southall Orchard Project by planting some cherry trees. Then on 27th February, children, parents and staff from Durdan’s Park Primary School joined members of the newly formed ‘Spikes Bridge Park Orchard Team’ and planted apple and nut trees in the park.
It’s free to participate and if you would like to help, please register at Eventbrite so we know how many refreshments to provide.
Volunteers are asked to ensure that they wear sturdy foot wear and dress appropriate for the weather. Tools will be provided.
This event takes place at:
West Avenue Southall, UB1 2AR
On 10th march 2018 our volunteers, along with Ealing Council’s Park Rangers, helped plant more trees and fruiting hedges at Jubilee Park.
The orchard was officially declared ‘open’ by Cllr Simon Woodroofe, the Mayor of Ealing, who also planted a ‘Mayoral Damson Tree’. The event was attended by Virendra Sharma, MP for Ealing Southall and local councillors, including Lady Margaret Ward councillor, Swaran Padda.
Five members of the Jubilee Park Team (Andre Rungen, Joyce Rundell, Sylvie Croslard, Theresa McGovern and Wendy Ho) were also present on the day.
The new community orchard is comprised of 56 trees (52 fruit & 4 nut). There are 32 trees dotted along the path that circles the park and another 24 were planted in ‘Fruit & Nut Corner’. The addition of approximately 30m worth of fruiting shrubs makes this our largest orchard to date.
Varieties include:
Apple (18 varieties), Cherry (4 varieties), Pear (5 varieties), Damson (1 variety), Gage (2 varieties), Mirabelle (1 variety), Plum (5 varieties), Nut (2 varieties).
Common Dogwood, Thorn, Blackthorn, Chokeberry, Honeysuckle, Blackcurrant, Redcurrant, Whitecurrant, Gooseberry and Raspberry.
This phase of the project was carried out with support from the Mayor of London’s Greener City Fund and MyPlaygreen – Timberland, managed by the King Baudouin Foundation. We are are also grateful to Kerry Foods/ Noon Products Ltd for their donation.
The Southall Orchard Project comes to Jubilee Park.
On Thursday 22nd February 2018, parents, children and teachers from Allenby Primary, Dormers Wells Infants and Dormers Wells High Schools helped us launch phase three of the project by planting pear trees at Jubilee Park.
The orchard will now be completed with help from the wider community and Ealing Council’s Park Rangers on Saturday 10th March 2018, 10.30am – 2.30pm with an official ‘opening’ by the Mayor of Ealing Cllr. Simon Woodroofe. All are welcome to attend.
It’s free to participate and if you would like to help, please register at Eventbrite so we know how many refreshments to provide.
Volunteers are asked to ensure that they wear sturdy foot wear and dress appropriate for the weather. Tools will be provided.
Jubilee Park is accessible from Jubilee Gardens, Southall UB1 2TJ.
More and more Londoners are getting on their bikes … to get fit, save money, reduce traffic pollution … and often to get places quicker than by car or bus. Whether you’re an absolute beginner or the next Bradley Wiggins, come and join Southall Transition as we partner with several organisations who are cycling experts:
On Saturday 7th October 2017, we worked with a several organisations and numerous volunteers to transform formerly overgrown sections of frontage outside Southall Community College and Southall Sports Centre on Beaconsfield Road. The end result was a tidy frontage and the creation of Southall’s first roadside edible garden.
The new garden is composed of three sections. The ‘Fruit’ section includes strawberries, raspberries, gooseberries and blackcurrants. The ‘Veg’ section currently has kale and leeks growing in it. And the ‘Herb’ section contains rosemary, thyme, mint and sage. Read more
Children, teachers & parents from the local nursery and nearby schools planted the first batch of trees and hedges at Southall Recreation Ground on 1st March 2017. The job was then completed by members of the public on 4th March 2017.
A new interpretation board was unveiled by the Mayor of Ealing, Cllr. Dr. Patricia Walker with help from local councillors Kamaljit Dhindsa and Swarn Kang. The Mayor said “I think it will be absolutely superb for children to come and spend time with all this beauty that will be growing up all around them”.
As a result of everyone’s efforts there are now 41 new fruit trees and 50 metres worth of fruiting shrubs at Southall Recreation Ground. Varieties include: Apple, damson, hazel, blackthorne, mirabelle, gage, plum, quince, pear and more.
Our partners in this phase of the project included Ealing Council’s Park Rangers, The Tree Council and Greenfields Nursery School & Children’s Centre . We are also grateful for the support provided by Clifton Primary School and Featherstone High School.
Our funding for this phase was supplied by Near Neighbours. Thanks also to Noon Products/ Kerry Foods for donating to the project.
The Southall Orchard Project gets recognition from the My Playgreen Scheme
The Southall Orchard Project was one of 14 projects across greater London that were selected to receive the ‘My Playgreen’ award for “Creating access to trees and green spaces for children in urban environments”. The award from the King Baudouin Foundation and Timberland includes a £5000 grant to help further the project and was collected by the Project Lead Mani Dhanda and committee member Andre Rungen at a ceremony which took place at the Impact Hub in London on Tuesday 14th March 2017.
From left to right: Aurelie Dumont, Mani Dhanda, Andre Rungen. Photo courtesy of Project Dirt
Aurelie Dumont, Corporate Social Responsibility & Sustainability Senior Manager at Timberland said “We believe in the power of community groups to turn their neighbourhoods into green. This is why we have chosen to reward small-scale projects and those citizens and local charities that work hard to make a difference in their communities. Local groups often lack the seed money to get started but with small support they can have a huge impact around them.
southalltransition.org 