Friends of Gipsy Hill celebrates its five years organization

Original idea from Francis Bernstein, co-Chair and co- Treasure, a note out on one of the local Facebook groups rows, kept advertising that there was a strip land at station needing care. It called Andy Scholes attention, now the co- Treasurer.

Thought it was a Govia Thameslink Railway (GTR) land, they created a partnership with the railway company and through their community group, they have started tidy the area.

Andy Scholes said: “This was an absolute a mess, all overgrown there; was rubbish in here and everything else.”

Francis was asking if anybody was interested in getting together with them. They had a meeting at the station on a Saturday morning and there was like, five or six of them turned up, said Scholes.

Helen Hayes, the Shadow Minister Education and Dulwich and West Norwood MP, Francis Bernstein, Cllr Christine Banton, Labour Group and Leader’s Office and guests.

Having no results than they originally thought, they have decided to constitute a group, so, they thought in putting it together as the Friends of Gypsy hill group community.

Friends Rejuvenation of Gipsy Hill, the original name, elected the committee of which five years later most of the members are still in, and some extra members added.

They had got permission from Govia Thameslink Railway (GTR) to come into the area and then they contacted someone from Lambeth, to have the licence from Lambeth to get the rights to be a friend's group. Only from that point they realised that the land was not railway land, and yes, Lambeth land.

License in hands, they used the mayor of London, Space Hive scheme, a fundraising platform, to transform the lands into a garden. A spacehive crowdfunder was created to raise their first funds to the project, and they were successful.

With the Space Hive Crowdfund funds they bought planters for the garden, oil tools, shed and all the equipment that they needed to get started. Scholes said: “We spent time and effort buying paint and painting the pallets as you see, that sort us out getting ready to create this space.”

Lockers from Crossrail's Liverpool Street project, pieces of equipment of building works happening around the village, planters where couple of them were made by Lambeth, from their edible Lambeth composting scheme, and other donations are all part of their history.

So, what was an abandoned old railway siding, old stranger coal yard coming up from mainline final to the buffer stop, running down into the coal yard outside, all along the theme back and over, became a sustainable garden driving through the community.

Helen Hayes, the Shadow Minister Education and Dulwich and West Norwood MP, said: “Honestly is brilliant, to see how you have grown as an organisation. Is really amazing. You made a such big impact. Is really wonderful.”

She took part in the fifth anniversary of the Friends of Gipsy Hill group in the garden, sideways to the station, on Saturday 13th of May. She inaugurated the extra signage, a semester size station entrance with the Southern rail colours. Thing which was lobbying by the group for five years.

Cllr Christine Banton, Labour Group and Leader’s Office, a local resident who was also present, has a positive impression: “I think it is really amazing. Seeing this like, living in the area, when this was just all wild and see what you have done with it,” said her.

Meeting once a month and crowdfunding various projects, such as ‘Community Christmas tree,’ ‘Gipsy Hill Heritage’ and more. The group plans to have some workshop areas, doing something crossing the boundaries cell, but everything in harmony to the garden space. As Scholes says: “The garden, obviously, is our main bit.”