Walthamstow Village in Bloom 2018 Portfolio by Helen Lerner

Walthamstow Village in Bloom 2018

Contents 1 2 3 4 6 8 10 11 12 14 16 17 18 20 21 22 23 24 26 28

Introduction and History Walthamstow Village in Bloom - Branching Out Gardening Club Adoption of Planters, Flowerbeds and Floral Displays Bulb Planting New Planting and Projects Front Garden and Beautiful Premises Challenges 2018 Village Veg, Our Community Allotment & Food Growing Projects Our Green Spaces Our Meadow, Conservation and Biodiversity BEE17 Plant, Seed and Produce Swaps - Spring and Autumn Vestry House Community Garden Civic Pride and Resource Management - Team Waltham Forest Crime Prevention Annual Spring Clean and Big Clean Up Our Calendar of Events Achievements and Recognition Fundraising and Awareness Funding and Support

Introduction and History Walthamstow Village is an ancient nucleus of present day Walthamstow, located in north east London.The Domesday Book records that Walthamstow, at the time of the Norman Conquest, comprised four separate village settlements.The parish at the time was called Wilcumestou, probably Old English for the welcome place.

The Village was left intact when the opening of the station at the Central and the relocation of the town hall to Forest Road drew away commercial development.

At the Village’s centre are St Mary’s Church, consecrated 900 years ago, and a 15th century timberframed hall house known as The Ancient House. From the 18th century the church common was encroached upon with the erection of the workhouse (now Vestry House Museum), the Squires’ Almhouses and the National School and other notable buildings, many of which will be seen in our tour of Walthamstow Village in Bloom.

In 2003 the WVRA successfully campaigned for Retail Parade Status to be re-granted to Orford Road. In 2015 it became pedestrianised as part of the Mini-Holland scheme and is thriving with many independent shops, restaurants and a Saturday artisan market at the Community Hub.

William Morris was born in Walthamstow in 1834. The family lived locally and attended St Mary’s Church until 1856. The house is now the renowned William Morris Gallery that attracts thousands of visitors many of whom make their way to the Village to eat, shop, be entertained and enjoy the surroundings.

The Village was designated a conservation area by Waltham Forest Council in 1967 and the adjoining Orford Road area designated such in June 1990.

The Village has a very distinct atmosphere with its quaint buildings, alleys and quirky streets, shops, pubs and restaurants and has a superb community spirit. Those living here consider themselves part of a very special area and it has surged in popularity over the last few years, due in part to the Bloom Effect.

The coming of the railway in 1869 generated a rapid population increase and the railway cutting created a barrier between the old village centre and the Victorian development. With the houses came the shops and by 1877 Orford and Beulah Roads had become the shopping centre of Walthamstow. The relocation of the town hall from Vestry House to Orford Road in 1876 confirmed its status as the centre of Walthamstow.

Walthamstow Village in Bloom - Branching Out In 2003 Walthamstow Village Residents’ Association (WVRA) formed its Environment Committee in response to concerns voiced by residents at Open Meetings. The Village was in a terrible state, so we organised the first of our annual spring cleans and started a monthly gardening club and have, over the years, adopted most public spaces and added more events to our calendar. We first entered London in Bloom in 2008/09 and last year we proudly achieved a Gold award in RHS Britain in Bloom. We enjoy the structure, support and inspiration that the Bloom initiative provides and the benefits of community gardening to the area are numerous and varied. Our Village is now beautiful and thriving. Raising our own funds and securing sponsorship from local businesses, taking advantage of freebies and propagating plants from division and seed we are fortunate to have enough cash; being 100% volunteer-led, it’s the people-power that’s vital to us.

This year has been all about inspiring, visiting and helping new groups across the borough and encouraging them to enter as IYNs. In May, organised by a sister group, we entered Chelsea Fringe as part of the Walthamstow Street Gardeners with a twohour walk encompassing local streets and community gardening groups. Again, this year we have been invaluably assisted and supported by Waltham Forest council, especially officer Paul Tickner and his colleagues and contractors who continue to work in partnership with us. Walthamstow Village in Bloom includes the Walthamstow Village and the Orford Road Conservation Areas and surrounding streets. It encompasses areas of the Hoe Street and Wood Street wards of the London Borough of Waltham Forest. Our community spirit is second to none and there’s always something exciting happening; we think it is the best place in the world to live.

Gardening Club The Walthamstow Village Residents’ Association’s Gardening Club started in August 2004 to tend the beds on the Village Square. We now maintain all the planters, flowerbeds, tree pits and any public spaces that require attention. We have a core group of stalwarts who turn up every month, come rain or shine. Before each gardening day a reminder email is sent and posted on Facebook. Some volunteers come regularly, others when they are available or want to participate in a certain project. Others go out independently to do a spot of weeding or planting. Those who join in include families with children and people of all ages, abilities and from a wide variety of backgrounds – we believe in inclusion and intergenerational activities. We meet on the first Saturday of every month until May when we add weekly Saturdays and Wednesday evenings when the newly-refurbished bells of St Mary’s ring out to serenade us. We have a year-round list of activities that includes weeding, planting and pruning, litter-picking, re-painting street furniture, clearing and cutting back vegetation from footpaths and tending the Community Meadow. Some volunteers bring their own tools and gloves and others use those that we have amassed and purchased. Once a year we ask residents for unwanted tools and John Chambers repairs and sharpens them. We hand out laminated Village weed recognition sheets to aid volunteers. We are supplied with green-waste bags by Waltham Forest that we are allowed to leave by any street bin for collection. Marion Cooper of Holmcroft House generously brings coffee and water to keep us going and made us a lovely party to thank us for our work. It’s a great way to meet neighbours who become great friends, we have lots of laughs and the satisfaction of a good job well done.

Adoption of Planters, Flowerbeds and Floral Displays Year by year, since 2007, we have adopted 25 planters and flowerbeds, the Village Square, Village Veg Plots, the meadow, Chalmers House & Grove Road Orchards and work on many more.They have inspired residents in surrounding and nearby areas to do the same and Gardening Groups are springing up around us creating a green corridor through the borough.

They are funded by the WVRA,Village Spar, Fullers Builders, BEE17, East London Sausage Company and other sponsors with all maintenance carried out by the Gardening Club. Walthamstow is the birthplace of William Morris and, with this in mind, we design the planting of our many brick-built planters, tree-pits and beds. All planting is pollinator and wildlife friendly. The planters have been transformed from eyesores, with damaged brickwork, overgrown shrubs blocking sightlines which attracted litter, and provided cover for anti-social activity, to displays that act as gateways to the Village, giving year-round interest in texture, movement and colour and attract beneficial insects including forage for our BEE17 bees.

The perennial plants are hardy and drought-tolerant and we collect seeds, divide the plants and take cuttings so that we can sustain and maintain them. We’ve added summer and spring bulbs and homegrown annuals and biennials to enhance the displays. Six residents, who are unable to attend Gardening Club Saturdays, have “adopted” planters that they maintain as and when they can. We give them support and a hi-viz jacket, rubbish bags, a map, instructions and our grateful thanks. We have a year-round programme of pruning, deadheading, seed-collecting and weeding and we use no herbicides or pesticides and only organic feed. We divide and take cuttings from established plants. We reuse plastic pots and trays or give them away to other groups.

We have a watering programme for new planting with the businesses in Orford Road each adopting a tree-pit and, in times of drought or after new planting, we put out a plea for residents to collect their “grey” water to use on the beds and new trees. WF installed a water supply for us to tap into in Vestry Road Playground. Grove Road residents have a Facebook group to coordinate watering of the meadow beds and orchard trees. Waltham Forest kindly supplies and maintains the lamppost baskets with summer and winter displays. Their contractor Urbaser and local residents frequently give us their surplus bedding plants. In February all the Village beds are fed and mulched with compost donated by North London Waste Authority.

Bulb Planting Since 2003 we’ve held a planting event every autumn and over 100,00 bulbs have been planted. The Village looks stunning throughout spring and provides forage for early pollinators. In autumn 2017 we were again awarded bulbs by the Metropolitan Public Gardens Association in association with Taylors Bulbs for planting in the Chalmers House Community Orchard, the serpentine bed of the Vestry Road playground and the Orford Road gateway tree boxes. 100 Narcissi canaliculatus 100 Snowdrops 100 Allium atropurpureum 50 Tulip ‘Strong Gold’ 50 Hyacinths ‘Delft Blue’ 1,600 mixed daffodils & narcissi

Walked past Chalmers House this afternoon. Looking lovely! - Sophy Bristow, Facebook

On 4 November we held an event to plant another 5,000 Crocus tommasinianus ‘Ruby Giant’ corms in the lawn at Chalmers House on Orford Road. They were purchased for £90 via the RHS Britain in Bloom and Rotary International initiative #Purple4Polio. The purple crocus represents the purple dye used to mark the fingers of children who have been immunised. Those planted in 2016 flowered earlier; in 2019 it will be a fantastic sight to see the full ten thousand flowering together. Sponsored by WVRA, Clive Meredeen planted the newly adopted planter in Maynard Road with: 100 Anemone coronaria ‘De Caen Hollandia’ 150 Anemone coronaria ‘De Caen The Bride’ 300 Anemone blanda We were lucky recipients of hundreds of daffodil bulbs from WF as part of their Big Bulb Giveaway.

New Planting and Projects Greening the Grey to help tackle issues surrounding climate change, health and wellbeing, food security and declines in wildlife Biodiversity is at the top of our agenda and all planting is pollinator and/or wildlife friendly, drought-tolerant, to flower in succession to give year-round colour and interest and to help mitigate the effects of climate change.. Bloom Committee member Clive Meredeen has adopted the brick-built planter on the boundary of our Bloom area where it meets busy Shernhall Street and has designed it to incorporate plants that help absorb pollutants and mitigate poor air quality. We will use signs and plans with plant names to inspire the community to follow suit in their own gardens. We researched green-walls with planting and irrigation systems but came to the conclusion that it was far more environmentally-friendly (and cheaper) to plant climbers such as Boston Ivy,Virginia creeper and Hydrangea petiolaris. Chalmers House Orchard Project (CHOP) Jakob instigated and leads the project at the local authority property on Orford Road. In 2016 we planted an orchard of fruit trees and a flowerbed and this year the area was enhanced by another 5,000 Purple for Polio Crocus tommasinianus â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Ruby Giantâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; corms and another 500 mixed bulbs donated by the Metropolitan Public Gardens Association, in the flowerbed along the railings. The CHOP project is improving community cohesion as we all enjoy gardening together, and has made a pleasant garden for the residents who will enjoy fruit in late summer.

Orford Road Tree-Pits, Gateway Boxes and Hanging Baskets The flush tree-pits that act as rain-gardens, get very hard wear in our main shopping street and the plants suffer especially after the pavement is gritted in winter. We have accepted that we need to replant each year and any plants that survive are a bonus! They are underplanted with 880 spring bulbs to match those in Vestry Road and are replanted with perennials and biennials in spring. The gateway tree boxes are now planted with a mix of ivy, spring bulbs and perennials. Jakob has arranged sponsorship of new planting and ongoing watering with the local businesses. Last year WF provided the fixings and contract for 28 new floral baskets to 14 lampposts with changes autumn and spring, watering and feeding at a cost of around ÂŁ5,000. Pembroke Road Our Bloom area is ever-extending with residents of Pembroke Road led by Jakob, planting bulbs and new tree-pits. Barclay Road The residents of Barclay Road have planted and edged their tree-pits. Vestry Road Tree-Pits Sponsored by the WVRA, Gerry Clegg from Cherry Close built new tree-pit edges.

Front Garden and Beautiful Premises Challenges 2018 Fresh Air Gardens We launched the Front Garden & Beautiful Premises Challenges in April and informed businesses, schools, organisations, religious and community groups within our Bloom boundary. There are categories for front gardens, balconies, window boxes and containers and this year we have a new category: Fresh Air Gardens to complement the environmental initiative by London in Bloom and the Mayor of London. People can enter their own premises or nominate a favourite. All entries to be received by Friday 29 June. In 2017 we held our awards ceremony at the WVRA AGM on 6 November where, after the formal business, we presented Certificates of Participation.

Challenge Winners: Best Community Garden – Gerard Clegg and the Cherry Close residents Best Front Garden – Dickon J C Bowling, East Avenue Best Containers – Georgina Abbott, Beulah Road Best Hanging Baskets - Benjamin Hills, Beulah Road Best Balcony – Felicity Sykes, Alander Mews Best Tended Tree-Pit – Mick Norkett, East London Sausage Company The £100 for the Most Improved Front Garden - Jane Radford, Beulah Road. London in Bloom’s Front Garden Award 2017 Mr & Mrs Martin, 9 Church Lane Certificates were also presented as a token of thanks to members of the team of Weekly Waterers who care for the Village Veg Plots in Beulah Road.

Village Veg, Our Community Allotment & Food Growing Projects Our Village Veg Plots outside at One Beulah Road, kindly sponsored by Fullers Builders, are designed to demonstrate how to grow veg, fruit and herbs and to look good in the street-scene. Residents and passersby can help themselves when the produce is ready. In 2018 the project is being led by Darryl Abelscroft and Caroline Barton with Nicola Hughes and Sam Hilsdon. The team has grown most of the vegetables from seed, create planting plans that rotate the crops each year and organise volunteer planting days. In particular, youngsters enjoy getting involved with the planting, labelling and they learn where their food comes from. No chemicals are used, and the beds are fed with blood, fish and bone and home-made compost. All the plants are name-labelled and flagged when ready to harvest. The project, started in 2015, helps to give people confidence to grow-their-own and, as a result, many have gone on to get their own allotments. We thank CGL (Change, Grow, Live), WF’s integrated drug and alcohol service, for letting us use their two raised beds and allowing us to install an outside tap. Their service-users can help themselves to the produce when they attend sessions and often help with the maintenance. A rota of seven Weekly Waterers have committed to tending and watering one day a week with the hose hidden in Colin Stinton’s courtyard opposite. We join in with the Apple Day held at Vestry House and the Family Bike Club runs scrumping sessions, harvesting street and “orphan” trees. Many residents grow Prima Donna hops for the Walthamstow Beer project that are annually harvested and made into beer by a local micro-brewery. Henry Maynard School has a flower and vegetable garden and planters in the playground that the children tend during after-school clubs.

Before

Our Green Spaces Greening the Grey for Wildlife & Biodiversity Our Community Meadow attracts bees, butterflies and other pollinating insects. Many of the Mini-Holland road filters are planted with perennial meadow mix mats that we mow twice yearly, weed out invasive species and keep tidy. The deep railway cutting is home to much wildlife and we liaise with Network Rail to try and keep it as free from litter and graffiti as we can. There is a small enclosed wildlife area in Vestry Road planted with native species with a bug hotel made by local children plus woodpiles, bird boxes and feeders. In winter, after the berries have been eaten we clean the out the boxes and put up feeders. Vestry House Museum garden has wildflower and meadow areas. Our many street trees provide a canopy of green space. Mick Punchard is our WF Tree Preservation & Nature Conservation Officer. Over the past two years we have liaised with WF to plant over 25 new street trees that residents have pledged to water. This winter we sited 10 new bird boxes in recently planted Village trees.

Being a London Village, every green space is important. The largest is St Maryâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Churchyard spread over three acres in which there are about 1,300 monuments (the oldest dated 1710). There are over 26,000 burials recorded of which more than 16,000 are from the mid-17th century; some are Grade II listed. The area adjacent to the Monoux Almshouses is cared for by residents and the remainder by volunteers led by Tim Hewitt. This year Tim started an initiative called Burials in Bloom that aims to encourage more people to visit, to interest them in the history of those buried and to garden a manageable space. Residents are asked to adopt an untended grave and improve its appearance with tidying and planting. There has been a very encouraging response, with 23 graves already adopted. We will extend the project further next year.

A side-shoot of the project is the creation a new long border along the South side of the church. This was very overgrown with a few clumps of geraniums and Anemone japonica surviving from an older planting. The first plants went in late March 2018, so it is very much a work in progress, but through the kind support of Essex Hardy Plant Society, many interesting and rare plants have been installed. Tim Hewitt has also grown plants from seed or taken cuttings. This autumn and winter we will improve the varied soil quality with our own compost and leaf mould. A lot of effort by many parties goes into keeping Vinegar Alley clean, tidy and graffiti-free; but we leave the native plants and wildflowers to encourage wildlife and to give the path a woodland feel. We have sown thousands of seeds and planted snowdrops, daffodils, English bluebells and primroses so itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a picture in spring. The church has completed a programme of tree maintenance. Community Payback Team repainted the churchyard railings with paint funded by WVRA. In the north churchyard we have a long-grass policy to encourage wildlife, with some areas left uncultivated. There are piles of wood, a composting area, a leafmould site and bird and bat boxes in the many trees. BEE17 has two hives. One issue, this year, has been the exponential increase in rough sleepers in the Churchyard that presents a daily challenge in terms of litter and maintenance. However, through conversations and long relationship with some of the rough sleepers, one of them has helped in clearing the Vinegar Alley site. A local Good Gym group of twelve helps monthly with ground clearance and long grass maintenance. On such a large site, community and voluntary assistance is hugely important in helping to keep on top of seasonal work. http://www.guardian-series.co.uk/news/16068513. Could_you_use_your_gardening_skills_to_help_ brighten_up_one_of_these_neglected_graves_/

Our Meadow, Conservation and Biodiversity We have been promoting the RHS initiative in our magazines, emails, Facebook posts and hand-outs at our Bloom events. Residents are encouraged to plant for wildlife with climbers, hedges, adding water, bird feeders, insect houses and to leave spaces for the hedgehogs in fences. WF Council has a Biodiversity Action Plan, a document identifying the Borough’s approach to biodiversity. The 2015 a scrutiny review assessed the work undertaken by WF to protect and promote biodiversity since 2010 and to progressing work to 2020. We meet with the council’s new building company Sixty Bricks to encourage new-builds to include planting, porous surfacing, swift-boxes etc.

Our Urban Meadow Our first meadow was sown in 2012 to commemorate the Diamond Jubilee and the Year of the Meadow but grasses had invaded as often happens to urban meadows. In winter 2017 Waltham Forest stripped the turf and removed the top layer of soil to reduce fertility. We raked it to a fine tilth, allowed weed seeds to germinate and twice weeded it. Last year we used a Euroflor Rainbow Annual mix together with a perennial native meadow mix, both kindly donated. To supplement the biennials, perennials and self-seeded plants, this spring we again weeded and raked over the site and divided it into 102 metre squares with marker spray. On 7 April, residents each sowed a square with 5g of mixed seeds donated by GrowWild. In autumn we will hand-cut it, shake out the seeds and gather the grasses and plants into stooks and cut it very short for winter. Sunflowers On 2 June we held a children’s sunflower planting day in the Vestry Road playground with plants we grew from seed. Members of the Gardening Club helped the children and explained how the flowers attract pollinators and the seed-heads will feed the birds in autumn.

Swift Conservation Opened in autumn 2017, Walthamstow Wetlands a mile away gives visitors free access to the wildlife and industrial heritage of this urban oasis. A specially designed tower on the old pump house incorporates 54 swift nest boxes. Many Village residents and Henry Maynard School are displaying their homemade swifts for the 1000 Swifts over Walthamstow project that highlights the plight of the urban swift. We have five nesting sites in roads in the Village. Wildlife Pond Henry Maynard Primary are continuing work on their wildlife pond. They have a Green Team of pupils from KS2 who learn about and then promote recycling and the environment. They have cleared out the pond and redeveloped the area for wildlife. The pond is used during science lessons to study the life cycle of the creatures that live in water and around the area.

Chalmers House just keeps giving. And the bees love it! - Jakob Hartmann, Facebook In January we joined in the RSPB’s Big Garden Birdwatch weekend. We are lucky to have many local colonies of house-sparrows and give advice regarding hedge planting and hedge cutting at the right times. From 17 May to 30 June we are promoting Friends of the Earth Great British Bee Count and the Butterfly Conservation’s Big Butterfly Count from 20 July to 12 August. Lavender Corner (planted by us in 2013) on Vestry Road is alive with pollinators in summer. We planted the car park beds in Berryfield Close with a berry field of 105 trees and shrubs from the Woodland Trust, and Cherry Close has also benefited from a free “harvest pack”. The beds are full of wildflowers sown in April. We use no herbicides or pesticides on any of our beds. All compost used is peat-free. We re-use or swap any plastic flowerpots and raise seedlings in paper cups.

BEE17 BEE17 is a community beekeeping project set up by Richard Smith and Helen Lerner in 2013 to support bees and plants and provide an insight into the lives of honey-bees and the role that beekeepers play.

Residents come on open days to visit the hives and watch inspections.

In 2017, BEE17 received London in Bloom’s Special Conservation Award.

We plan planting to ensure that there are nectar and pollen-rich plants or trees in flower throughout the year; the Village is now an ideal place for bees with its many green spaces, the meadow, street trees, planters and gardens.

With the experience gained over the past five years, Richard has expanded BEE17 to five apiary sites including three hives in St Mary’s churchyard and ten in Beulah Road. BEE17 honey is sold in the Walthamstow Wetlands, William Morris Gallery, local shops and delivered with the milk by Parker’s Dairy. The two original BEE17 hives, situated in the woodland at the back of Helen’s garden, remain not-for-profit. In 2017/18 we’ve raised £1,300 from honey and handmade honey and wax products at pop-up shops and stalls to benefit our Bloom projects.

Again, we hosted the Walthamstow Wassailers who sang to and blessed the hives on 7 January.

In The Village magazine, our BEE17 website and Facebook page we ask that everyone buys bulbs, seeds and plants with all pollinating insects in mind and we direct people to the RHS Perfect for Pollinators plant lists. From 17 May and throughout June we promote the Friends of the Earth’s Great British Bee Count.

Plant, Seed and Produce Swaps - Spring and Autumn We held our first Plant and Seed Swap in 2009 to encourage residents to improve their front gardens, window boxes and planters, to grow fruit and vegetables and to raise the profile of our Bloom campaign. Packets of collected seeds, and those awarded by GrowWild are given out and people bring their surplus seeds, plants, pots, produce and gardening equipment to swap. We give out information sheets including the RHS Perfect for Pollinators booklet and advice on increasing biodiversity, planting to mitigate climate change, making the most of front gardens etc. We answer gardenersâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; queries and identify plants. Any plants left find homes in the Village beds. At each swap we run themed childrenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s gardening workshops that have included meadow planting, making a giant bug hotel, making insect houses, making window boxes from reclaimed wood, growing vegetables, planting sunflowers or hollyhocks. Other stalls at the Plant and Seed swaps include BEE17 honey, WF Friends of the Earth, the William Morris Gallery stall with their range of Morris gardening accessories and plant stalls run by THUSO, Hornbeam and Museum volunteer gardeners. Our next swap is on Saturday 1 September at the Walthamstow Village Festival.

Vestry House Community Garden The garden at Vestry House Museum was created with investment from the Heritage Lottery Fund. This project transformed a bare space into a delightful community garden which takes its inspiration from the fact that the Museum was originally built as a workhouse in the 18th century. The aim is to complement the heritage of Vestry House and to create a space for relaxation, enjoyment and learning for visitors and our local community. The garden is entirely maintained by volunteers. Sadly, their hedging has been attacked by the box hedge caterpillar and they are in the process of deciding on replacement, probably in yew. At the end of last summer John Chambers replaced parts in the long defunct irrigation system and got it up and running. The Volunteer Team Our garden flourishes thanks to our fantastic team of around 10 garden volunteers. In addition to monthly meetings the team meets fortnightly with experienced members coaching and mentoring new recruits. Thursdays are also a regular drop-in day. We actively recruit new members and welcome volunteers with all ranges of ability. Our garden volunteers were named Runner-Up in the Best Team category at the London Volunteers in Museums Awards 2015. Sustainability Vestry House Gardeners are committed to ensuring best practice in environmental sustainability by: • Using organic methods and avoiding the use of chemicals.. • Leaving areas untouched to encourage biodiversity. • Planting to attract wildlife. • Using produce from our garden, including vegetables and herbs.

Garden Layout and Horticulture The planting is inspired by the history of the workhouse garden. The emphasis is on useful plants including fruit, vegetables, culinary and medicinal herbs and dye plants. There is a woodland bed, wild meadow area, a bed planted to attract insects, and a white bed designed to complement the many weddings that take place at the museum. They aim: • To provide a mixture of aesthetic and educational interest year round. • To ensure continuity of interest they grow plants with evergreen foliage such as curly kale and ruby chard. They maintain a balance of perennial plants and annuals in addition to vegetable varieties. • To choose plants and herbs are carefully to offer a multi-sensory learning experience for visitors. • To maintain a balance of cultivated and wild areas to increase the biodiversity and learning potential of the garden.

Interpretation and Education As part of the redevelopment plans for Vestry House Museum we are reviewing the interpretation of the garden and opportunities for learning that it presents - for example a family trail for children and leaflets that visitors will be able to take with them around the garden, together with a redesign of our interpretation panels and replacement of those relating to the history of the garden. We provide monthly family activity days which are often influenced by our garden, such as our â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Spring Bloomsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; event this year when families planted seedlings in pots and decorated them, inspired by plants in the garden. Community Use Visitor numbers to the Museum continue to rise due in part, no doubt, to the continuing popularity of the garden as a space for families, adults and school groups to enjoy. Last year they attracted 22,420 visitors, a significant proportion of whom used the garden. The garden is a major factor for people choosing to use the Community Room for events including parties, functions and weddings.

Events Vestry House hosts a number of successful events in the garden each year, working closely with local artists and businesses, for example, Apple Day, a highly popular celebration of everything and anything connected to apples. They regularly host art exhibitions in the garden, particularly during the biennial E17 Art Trail. Garden events always prove extremely popular and have previously featured in The Londonist and Time Out magazine, helping to raise the profile of the Museum and garden citywide.

Civic Pride and Resource Management - Team Waltham Forest LB Waltham Forest has for years worked hand-in hand with Walthamstow Village in Bloom and over the past year we have been working with the council to encourage more residents to start their own groups as part of Team Waltham Forest. WF has been photographing, filming and interviewing our groups to empower and inspire residents to do the same to improve their streets and estates via poster campaigns, Facebook, Twitter and the fortnightly Waltham Forest News. As winner of the Mayor of London’s first London Borough of Culture 2019, we are ensuring that horticulture and the art of gardening is at the forefront of the bid helping to build community and civic pride. Dedicated officer, Paul Tickner does monthly walks around the Village with us to help plan projects and to rectify any problems. We can report neighbourhood problems 24/7 via a Chatbot @walthamforestcouncil on Facebook or Twitter @WFTellWalt WF pledges that every street is cleaned at least once a week. We have weekly collections of general rubbish and green bins of mixed recycling that are taken the MRF site in Edmonton for sorting. We have fortnightly collections of “green” and food waste that goes to the North London Waste Authority Plant for composting. We can request delivery of this compost free of charge for mulching and feeding the beds. WF provides all the lamppost baskets with seasonal displays, watering and feeding.

WF provides free collection of up to five items per household of bulky waste annually. WF’s recycling partner, Bright Sparks carry out large item collections of furniture that is in good condition. They collect for free every Wednesday and Saturday. WF’s recycling partner 123 Recycle makes free collections of all electrical items. In 2016 powers were introduced which allow councils to issue fixed penalty notices with a fine of up to £400 to anyone caught in the act of fly-tipping. WF has issued the second highest number of FPNs out of 302 local authorities. Waltham Forest’s environmental education centre, Suntrap, is celebrating half a century of teaching children, young people and families. These activities support classroom-based learning through practical, real-world experiences. A crackdown has been taking place across the borough to prevent shop fronts becoming overrun with advertising stickers that are a form of fly-posting. Early morning checks are carried out by the Neighbourhoods team to prevent commercial waste from being dumped; those responsible are issued with a fixed penalty notice.

Crime Prevention Walthamstow Village is a quaint area that has many paths and alleys and a large churchyard. On the advice of the Metropolitan Police, the Gardening Club carries out work to “eliminate recesses, blind corners and hiding places” and remove graffiti. This year’s work includes: •

liaising with Change, Grow, Live, WF’s integrated drug and alcohol service, situated in Beulah Road. Every day 50 high-dependency service users visit Lifeline and problems sometimes occur, especially begging. WVRA liaises with the service’s managers to try and keep any disruption to a minimum while supporting service users.

• working with the Orford Road Traders’ Association.

• painting and cleaning signs and street furniture.

• reporting, and encouraging residents to report, any fly-tipping, lighting defects and street problems to Waltham Forest Direct. • reporting fly-tipping and graffiti on the railway embankments to Network Rail. • cutting back vegetation blocking sightlines, lighting and pathways. • running anti-dog fouling campaigns and having “hot spot” signs stencilled on footpaths.

• liaising with property companies to ensure • publishing articles on crime prevention, most removal of signs within two weeks of let/sale. recently about cold-calling, in our quarterly magazine The Village. • attending Ward Forum meetings to ensure residents’ voices are heard. • sitting on the Public Spaces WVRA sub- committee to liaise with residents, architects and • consulting with WF and attending meetings re traffic planners regarding work, environmental planning, transport, environment, rubbish issues and traffic-calming in the conservation collection, cleansing etc. areas. • holding open meetings and an AGM for residents • walking around the area monthly with WF to voice concerns to relevant parties. Conservation Officers and enforcement teams to point out and solve problems. • liaising with, giving talks, hosting walkabouts and advising other community groups: • reporting illicit satellite-dish installation, WF Civic Society, Cleveland Perk, West Avenue PVCu window replacement and other RA, Folkestone Road RA, Greenleaf Road unsuitable additions in the conservation areas RA, William Morris & St James Street Big Locals, to WF Conservation Officers using Google Wood Street South Gardening Club and Love StreetView to prove that work falls outside the South Chingford. We also give small grants to four-year rule. help them. • working to clean, improve and plant along the verges of Vinegar Alley, Beulah, Barclay and Maynard paths.

Our Hoe Street Safer Neighbourhood Team PC Philip Antoniades, PC Nabeel Hassan & PCSO Husein Hassan keep us updated on crime at Ward Forums and hold crime prevention workshops.

Annual Spring Clean and Big Clean Up After a couple of false starts owing to snowy weather, we launched Walthamstow Village in Bloom 2018 on 24 March with our 16th annual clean attended by 30 residents of all ages, abilities and from a wide variety of backgrounds. In 2003 the Walthamstow Village Residents’ Association’s (WVRA) newly formed Environment Committee ran the first spring clean after many complaints from residents concerning litter, graffiti and fly-tipping. In the fortnight before the clean we compile a list of jobs for teams to tackle. We joined the nationwide Great British Spring Clean event and Waltham Forest council’s eighth boroughwide Spring Clean which was started as a response to our success in the Village. We formed teams to clear grot-spots and fly-tips, clean up the churchyards, tidy the tops of the railway embankments and to paint street furniture; younger children litter-picked the playgrounds. One team planted the front gardens at Holmcroft House sheltered housing site with spring bedding donated by WF. John Chambers and his team removed dumped items from front gardens and alleys, and the bagged-up waste collected by the teams. This was unloaded by the garages in Maynard Road where it was collected at the end of the day by council contractors Urbaser. We laid on a free picnic lunch on Vestry Green for all volunteers. The Spring Clean is a very satisfying and enjoyable event and has helped instil pride in the area; it gives everyone a chance to work together, meet their neighbours and further improve the Village. At the end of June we’ll hold a Big Clean Up to spruce up the area before judging.

Our Calendar of Events The first Saturday of every month, come rain or shine, is Gardening Day. Throughout June this increases to every Saturday and Wednesday evening. The Village Veg Plot is cared for every day by one of the team of weekly waterers and the planters and tree-pits by their adopters. On 1 September 2017 the Walthamstow Village Festival organised by WF Community Hub with WVRA support will attract thousands of people. Next year the Village Festival will again include music and dance as part of the Borough of Culture 2019. On 16 September we will hold our fourth Village Jumble Trail championed by WVRA committee member Molly Moloney. Last year over 100 households signed up and held yard sales that attracted hundreds of buyers and raised funds for local charities. In October the annual Apple Day, will be held in the Vestry House gardens; last year it attracted over 1,500 people. In October we hold our AGM and local Bloom Awards Ceremony with cheese and wine to celebrate. In November it’s the Big Village Bulb Plant. In December our annual carol concert on the Village Square around the Christmas tree attracts hundreds of people who are served free mulled wine and mince pies. Singing is led by Phillip Creasy and accompanied by East London Brass band.

In January on Twelfth Night it’s the Walthamstow Wassail and bonfire party at BEE17. In March and June, we run Spring Clean and Big Clean Up events. In April our ever-popular, sell-out, Annual Curry Quiz raised over £1,300. 125 residents enjoyed the quiz written and presented by Neil Underwood with a Village-themed picture round, a home-cooked curry supper made by Shameem Mir and WVRA volunteers and a raffle with prizes donated by local businesses. In April and September we hold a Plant & Seed Swap with a BEE17 and WVRA membership stall. Through June till September, St Mary’s Musical Hall at the church hosts a season of live music. There’s so much going on that there’s now no need to leave the Village!

Achievements and Recognition

• 2009, London in Bloom’s Best Urban Community – Silver-gilt • 2010, London in Bloom’s Best Urban Community – Silver-gilt • 2010, London in Bloom’s Commendation award - Helen Lerner • 2010, Britain in Bloom – Silver-gilt • 2011, London in Bloom’s Best Urban Community – Gold • 2011, Britain in Bloom – Silver • 2012, London in Bloom’s Best Urban Community – Gold • 2012, London in Bloom’s Floral Display Award • 2012, London in Bloom’s Christmas Lights Award • 2012, London in Bloom’s Front Garden Award, - Mr & Mrs. Martin of 9 Church Lane • 2014, London in Bloom’s Best London Village – Gold • 2015, London in Bloom’s Best London Village – Gold • 2015, London in Bloom’s Greener Streets Award • 2016, London in Bloom – Gold • 2016, Britain in Bloom – Silver-gilt • 2017, London in Bloom’s Best London Small Village – Gold • 2017, London in Bloom’s Special Conservation Award - BEE17 project • 2017, London in Bloom’s Front Garden Award - Mr & Mrs Martin – 9 Church Lane • 2017, London in Bloom’s Community Champion – Gerard Clegg • 2017, Britain in Bloom – Gold • 2017, Britain in Bloom’s Growing Communities Award • 2017, Britain in Bloom’s Community Champion – Helen Lerner • 2018, WF Community Hub’s Pride of the Village Award

A well deserved award for fantastic gardening and work with and for our community. - Errol Reuben Fernandes, Facebook Mentions in the Media The Guardian Volunteers win first prize at London in Bloom competition for improving appearance of Walthamstow Village Find inspiration on how to transform your neighbourhood at this street garden tour Could you use your gardening skills to help brighten up one of these neglected graves?

Fundraising and Awareness Our main sponsors are Estates 17, Fullers Builders, East London Sausage Company, NISA and BEE17. Local businesses and residents kindly donate money, goods or vouchers for raffles and events. Membership of the WVRA costs £12 per year, per household. Caroline Barton designed a set of Walthamstow Village in Bloom Christmas cards and notelets that raised £272.00. We make lavender bags to sell from the flowerheads gathered at Lavender Corner. The Curry Supper Quiz raised £1208.39. The WF Community Hub lends its hall free of charge for Open Meetings and the AGM and we support their work with older people’s outings and lunches, and gardening with the youth club. Council contractor Urbaser, Petals in Bloom florist, local garden centres and residents donate surplus plants and we take advantage of national offers of free seeds, bulbs and plants. North London Waste Authority provides us with tonnes of compost that WF delivers to central points for collection by groups. WF Council generously provides our lamppost baskets, including the new double baskets down Orford Road, with winter and summer displays and the watering and feeding of all. WF provides a Christmas tree and lights, and lights around all the lampposts in Orford Road. John Chambers Builders covers travel and tickets for attending seminars and awards.

Your efforts are appreciated. Always nice to see the place looking good. - Dave Gordon

The WVRA produces a quarterly magazine edited by Daniel Barry and designed by Molly Moloney that is delivered to 2000 properties. It is generously sponsored by Estates 17. We apply for grants via our Hoe Street Ward Forum. Our Bloom events are published in the borough-wide monthly E-List magazine, also sponsored by Estates 17. After the GDPR 2016/679 was implemented in May, WVRA has the details of just over 600 residents and community groups who are sent details of what’s on. MP Stella Creasy advertises events in her weekly e-newsletter. We have a 15-minute promotional film made by Sarah Vincent and the Waltham Forest Video Workshop showcasing our work for Walthamstow Village in Bloom for anyone wanting to improve their area. Watch at https://tinyurl.com/walthamstowvideo We give talks, host walkabouts and advise new groups and have formed a growing Facebook Group called Waltham Forest Community Gardeners Network to stay connected, share resources and plan joint events. Our notice board on the Village Square is kept up to date with posters and information. We have a Walthamstow Village Residents’ Association website and Facebook pages and Twitter accounts for Walthamstow Village in Bloom, Village Veg and Walthamstow Village. We have close links with WF Friends of the Earth, WF Civic Society, Walthamstow Historical Society, Organiclea, the Hornbeam Centre, E17 Art Trail and Friends of Wingfield Park.

I’d love to do this on our street! - Clementine Cowton

Our busy committee members are also volunteers running cycling clubs, working with St Mary’s Church and Orford Road Social Club and Bowling Teams, with older people, local schools, the WF Community Hub’s Youth Group, the Toy Library, the Saturday Market and many other local projects and charities.

Main Sponsors & Credits •

The Vestry House Museum staff and all the volunteer gardeners for their hard work and for the use of their wonderful premises for hosting the judging days.

• Walthamstow Village Residents’ Association Committee – funding projects and support. • Estates 17 – sponsorship of quarterly Village Magazine & promotion via the E-List.

• Hoe Street Ward Cllrs Saima Mahmud, Tom Connor, Ahsan Khan and MP Stella Creasy - support and promotion of events. Walthamstow Village in Bloom Committee Helen Lerner, Caroline Barton, Jakob Hartmann, Nick Springett, Clive Meredeen, Darryl Abelscroft, John Chambers and Teresa Deacon.

Village Veg Committee & Weekly Waterers Darryl Abelscroft, Caroline Barton, Caroline Lennon, • Fullers Builders – sponsorship of the planter on Jeffa Thomlinson, Emma Hall, Nicola Hughes, Sam the junction of Beulah and Grosvenor Rise East Hilsdon, young Ralph and Ruby with Sally Weston and and sponsorship of the Village Veg allotment Mark Tempest. Reserve waterer: Colin Stinton. project. Gardening Club Stalwarts • BEE17 – sponsorship, plants and bulbs. Helen Lerner, Teresa Deacon, John Chambers, Caroline Barton, Jakob Hartmann, Colin Stinton, Megan Whitear, • Village SPAR - sponsorship of new Maggie Jules, Jill Truman,Vanessa Darnborough, Cathy planting in the Village Square. Macnaughton, Douglas Saltmarshe, Nick Springett, Clive Meredeen, Diana Marshall, Andrew Blount, David • East London Sausage – sponsorship of Christmas. Alison Muldoon with Lucia and Sylvia. tree-pits and tree-boxes. Walthamstow Village Residents’ Association • The staff and committee of the WF Community Megan Whitear (Chair), Helen Lerner, Barry White, Hub. John Larking, Shameem Mir, Sue Carter, Daniel Barry, Paul Gasson (Treasurer), David Baker (Secretary), Joga • John Chambers Plumbing & Building Services Kabra and Molly Moloney. - sponsorship, labour, van, tools. Sincere thanks to all the lovely people of Walthamstow • Joshua Lerner - portfolio design Village who have volunteered and donated items and who aren’t mentioned above. Special thanks to Marion Cooper, • Sarah Trivuncic (front page), Richard Smith, who unfailingly brings us refreshments while we work. Daniel Barry, Darryl Abelscroft, Jakob Hartmann, Maggie Humphries, Caroline Barton, Paul Gasson, Eustachio di Paola, Andrew Blount, Bairbre Kelly and Helen Lerner – photographs. Lauren Garbutt – films and photos. •

London Borough of Waltham Forest, Cllr Clyde Loakes, contractors Urbaser and WF Officers Paul Tickner and Ben Frearson – equipment, rubbish disposal and green waste collection, floral lamppost baskets, extra cleaning, etc.

• The Community Payback teams

@E17inBloom @VillageVegE17 @E17inBloom @VillageVegE17

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