Escape into Nature: Park Volunteering during Lockdown

Volunteering throughout Lockdown

At the beginning of 2020 we had a small, dedicated group of community vegetable garden volunteers who met weekly. However, in March 2020 – like so much else – we had to suspend our volunteering programme, which resulted in a yard full of plants and a greenhouse with vegetable and annual flower seedlings that were ready to be planted out but no one to plant them.

Throughout the lockdown, we continued receiving emails from some of our volunteers who wanted to return as part of their allowed daily exercise. Some of them lived alone and for others volunteering helped with their mental health. In April we developed a safe system that allowed volunteers to return and help with planting which enabled us to focus on other areas of the park that otherwise would have been neglected.

As the lockdown eased, we invited the rest of the garden volunteers back for the weekly sessions. We were also delighted to be inundated with new volunteer applications and the gardening volunteering team grew rapidly.

To meet this new influx of volunteers we started two new volunteer groups: the Heritage Core Volunteer Group and the Nature Trail Volunteer Group.

Creation of New Volunteer Groups

To meet this new influx of volunteers we started two new volunteer groups: the Heritage Core Volunteer Group and the Nature Trail Volunteer Group.

The Heritage Core Volunteer Group are a small group of knowledgeable volunteers to whom we were able to give more demanding tasks – from working in the herbaceous and shrub borders around the heritage core to other tasks such as planting bulbs, weeding, mulching, deadheading etc.

The Nature Trail Volunteer Group work on Gunnersbury’s nature trail to improve the diversity of planting and enriched the habitat and food sources for the wildlife. After strategic bramble clearance, a new hedge was planted which enclosed the newly created meadow, new dead hedges were added, and a new bluebell area was created. In the glade new trees were planted and mulched.

All these volunteer groups have continued to dedicate their time and effort to us. In October, the Nature Trail and the Heritage Core volunteers helped us plant thousands of tulips, daffodils, alliums, and herbaceous material created by dividing already existing plants on other beds. Meanwhile in the Community Garden, they enjoyed a bountiful harvest in September including beetroots, beans, carrots, cucumbers, tomatoes, potatoes, and more.

Teaming up with External Volunteer Groups

We’ve also teamed up with external volunteer groups. In August 2020 we hosted a group from National Citizen Service Challenge, run by our neighbours Brentford Football Club Community Sports Trust. Over several weeks, they removed unwanted undergrowth under trees along the southern border of the park which improved safety and visibility in the area. They also created dead hedges to provide habitat for wildlife at the edge of the meadow. Throughout the year we also welcomed Good Gym who help us keep brambles in check and to restore the sight lines in the heritage parkland which were lost over years of neglect. Here is a link to one of their reports. GoodGym Hounslow - Bramble in the urban jungle! We were also delighted to be able to offer a work experience role to a student from the Ambitious About Autism College.