Christ Church Orchard Project
2
The Pitch
Problem statement
Limited access to outdoor spaces means children are losing touch with nature to the point where 60% have never climbed a tree and 59% couldn’t identify a bumblebee. Getting our children reconnected with nature is imperative to all our futures and to their wellbeing, particularly in the wake of the pandemic. London has an acute problem with air pollution and Lambeth borough is considered one of the worst for air quality, regularly breaking legal air pollution limits. We believe that through improving green spaces in schools, we can generate positive change to mitigate this and this project is a fantastic opportunity to achieve this.
Solution
The goal is to repurpose a neglected space in a Lambeth primary school close to the south circular and plant an orchard rich in fruit varieties, creating shade, edible produce and offering a natural learning environment. Children will learn about sustainability, life cycles and about where food derives. The orchard and wildflowers will attract pollinators, encourage birds and wildlife and will help reduce the impact of air pollution by absorbing carbon dioxide and decreasing water into drains. Funding will enable us to work with the Good Gym to manage volunteers from their network and the school community to clear the space and plant the orchard, or pay for trees or wildflower turf.
Why are we best placed to deliver?
Our past projects have shown how successfully we can transform green spaces and help schools maximise the environmental benefits of their outdoor areas by providing them with our practical support and expertise, building strong relationships with the school communities and beyond. We have worked with primary schools and nurseries, building sensory, learning or play areas, setting up gardening clubs and composting facilities, providing training, sourcing materials at affordable rates and connecting with local suppliers and contractors to ensure that we not only support the school on their initial journey, but we continue to partner with them as their outdoor environments flourish and grow.
Focus Areas
Delivery plan
Budget breakdown
| Good Gym volunteer manager | £250 |
| Partial funding of wildflower turf | £250 |
Beneficiaries
215 people
Expected impact
This greening project will serve to enrich the entire curriculum from biology, science, maths and geography, to art, design and languages. Logs provide seating areas for story-telling, borders provide inspiration for creative writing, insects and bugs provide learning opportunities about habitats, plants about adaptation, trees about microclimates and climate change. Fruit trees provide a natural learning environment and their growth and care can be used in lesson planning, as well as helping to develop personal skills and improve mental wellbeing. Children can pick and eat the fruits, learning about sustainability, and from where food derives.The orchard and wildflowers will attract the highly important pollinators to the area as well as encouraging different bird species and wildlife. Trees provide shade, absorb sound, help decrease the amount of water going into drains, whilst also reducing people’s exposure to pollution by cleaning the air through absorbing carbon dioxide.