Our Garden
In 2019, Age UK Croydon was lucky enough to be selected by Alan Titchmarch’s TV programme Love Your Garden to have an amazing makeover to our community garden in Thornton Heath. The programme documents our journey from inaccessible wasteland to urban oasis!
You can watch the full video below:
The garden space that wraps around Scratchley Hall was overgrown, inaccessible and unsafe.
With the help of the Love Your Garden team along with many local volunteers and tradespeople, it’s become an easy-to-access, exciting community area where people can enjoy their love for both gardening and the outdoors together.
The health and social benefits of gardening together are well-documented; people feel happier, healthier and more socially connected. Age UK Croydon has big plans to maximise the benefits of the outdoor space, including growing herbs and vegetables to use in a community kitchen, opening a Men in Sheds project to make bird boxes in the tool shed and involving local primary schools to open bug hotels.
Jill Kyne, Age UK Croydon CEO said: “What an absolutely amazing opportunity and honour for us to have our garden overhauled by one of the best-known professionals in the gardening world.”
If you are a community group that would like to use the space, get in touch on aukc@ageukcroydon.org.uk. We will be running a range of activities, events and parties so that local people can come back together and have the chance to see and use the space.
Stay in touch
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If you’d like to donate to help us run activities and events for older people, please visit our JustGiving site.