St James Avenue Sensory Vegetable Garden Project is being led by West Ealing Business Improvement District (BID) in Partnership with St James Church. We aim to transform an area of neglected outdoor space into a beautifully designed and lovingly maintained communal, sensory, vegetable garden.

We will partner with local primary schools, businesses residents and homeless charities to create an accessible space where children can learn about plants and insects; that the community can relax in; and local homeless charities can benefit from the produce grown in the garden.

We will organise for the local business community and residents to provide their input into how the garden should take shape and what they would like to see the space evolve into.

Local school children will be invited to design the planting scheme for the garden and will be encouraged to incorporate vegetables, plants that stimulate the senses and species that encourage insects and pollinators to inhabit the garden.

What we'll deliver:

• Encourage local businesses to volunteer their time to help complete the project.
• Engage with local schools and Churches to encourage the use of the garden as a community area.
• Repave the the area.
• Build a raised garden plot and plant it with vegetables, sensory stimulating and insect friendly plants.
• Build-in seating and communal use areas to encourage residents to stop and relax in the garden.

Why it's a great idea:

The space we have chosen is currently a neglected open space of the Broadway in West Ealing. It is largely unused and by completing this project we hope to create a public space which the entire community can enjoy and one which is accessible to all.

The Garden will be open to the public and through partnering with local schools, and residents associations we will endeavour to ensure that it is used as a place that children can learn about plant and insect species, local residents and workers can relax in and enjoy.

We have partnered with St James Church and with their help we will reach out to local homeless charities and soup kitchens. So that any produce from the garden can be donated to them. We will also arrange for qualified gardeners to visit these charities and offer training to anyone who is interested. We will then look to provide employment to these newly trained gardeners to look after the garden.

Steps to get it done:

• Open meetings and consultations will be organised for the public to attend and provide feedback
• Professional architects will be engaged to provide drawings/visuals and advice
• Seek out business partners willing to volunteer staff time to assist in the build and planting
• The community and all stakeholders will be asked for their input into the design of the garden and its surroundings
• We will consult with all the stakeholders regularly to throughout the life of the project
• West Ealing BID will provide a dedicated and experienced project manager to oversee the work
• Specialist landscape architects will be engaged to advise the project and deliver the garden build