The Heritage Lottery Fund has given a grant of £374,000 towards the restoration of the Flower Garden. Lambeth Council are contributing £82,000. The Friends have agreed to donate £2,500 for students from City & Guilds Art School to design and make a sundial to replace the one destroyed by vandals many years ago.
Adding in the notional value of future voluntary effort from the Friends, the total project exceeds £500,000.
Many people have contributed over a long period to achieve this success. Using the earlier grant given to plan the restoration the Friends were able to consult widely last year in the park and with ‘stakeholders’. The views from park users have been reflected in the plans drawn up by the landscape architects and now approved.
A new entrance will be opened from the Green Link, which will be re-landscaped.
Paths will be re-laid and new boundaries will give clear sightlines. The lily-pond will be re-created; the pergolas and many existing features will be sympathetically restored and fresh planting introduced. There will be new garden furniture.
The work is planned to finish by late summer 2015. We will then embark on the Activity Plan drawn up by the Friends to raise awareness of the Flower Garden and widen the range of its users. A gardening instructor will help those who want to take an active part in maintaining the garden, supplementing the work of the contractor.
I want to thank everyone whose work has contributed to this success and Lambeth Council for supporting the Friends’ original initiative. Testimonials in support came from our MP Kate Hoey and a wide range of other individuals and organisations.
As the plans develop, we will publish updates to keep you in the picture.
Yours sincerely
GORDON JOHNSTON
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