Wilder is a new social enterprise creating spaces for urban wildlife. We are not-for-profit low-carbon organisation whose goal is to promote biodiversity through wildlife friendly planting. We apply sustainability principles to every aspect of our work, and are looking for a grant to instigate our plan to make our local community greener.
Wilder is run by Leanne Werner and Helena Smith, who met when Leanne was chairing Southwark Council's climate emergency scrutiny commission. Leanne put out a call for a videographer to document the drop in pollution during the 2020 lockdown. Helena, a member of Extinction Rebellion’s Southwark Rebel Gardeners group, filmed Southwark Voices in response.
We met again by chance at a gardening project at sheltered housing in Bermondsey, and again by chance a few days later at Walworth Garden’s (brilliant) wildlife gardening course. On a break in the course, we conceived Wilder over lunch at the nearby Electric Elephant Café.
Our combined skills encompass fundraising, policy change, writing, photography and video-making. And we love gardening. Between us we have created a new courtyard garden at the Hackney Pirates literacy charity, nurtured green spaces at women's refuges in south London, and volunteered for Bankside Open Spaces Trust, at Archbishop’s Park and for the kitchen garden project at North London Action for the Homeless.
We need funds to create a wild space at the Bridge (a health and wellbeing centre). This is part of our response to the growing ecological crisis in our cities. Funding will help us to create an edible wild garden at the Bridge. This will turn a neglected and underused space into a wildife haven, and will provide produce for to the community kitchen.
