The Eikon Gardens are a place for young people to learn new skills, make friends, relax in nature, and talk to a trusted adult in a safe space.
The Hopes and Dreams Garden and the recently renovated Tea Garden are only possible with the help of so many different kinds of community support. From donating plants to refreshing furniture with a lick of paint, or weeding and maintaining the gardens. Every job, however big or small, helps bring together this wonderful space for everyone to enjoy. Whether that’s at our Gardening Clubs, a session with an Eikon practitioner in the gardens, or a moment of rest and reflection with a cup of tea outside. And just as no job by itself maintains the gardens, no one person is ever alone.
Through weekly Gardening Clubs, students help maintain the gardens and last year they fundraised to give the green spaces a makeover. Recently we also received a wide range of generous support from our community to help improve the new Tea Garden. As a result of this community support, the Gardening Clubs have been able to lay fresh gravel, plant new flowers, and create a Tea Garden space for young people, Eikon staff and volunteers, and visiting parents and carers to enjoy.
Donated plants from J.Parker’s
J.Parker’s, a well-known plant nursery in Manchester contacted us to kindly donate plants for our Gardening Clubs. Their generous contribution of over 80 bulbs and plants and a great quantity of seeds will help to brighten up our gardens – a thriving space for wildlife and beautiful place for reflection.
It means so much for children and young people to be able to plant these bulbs, watch them grow and thrive.
“The garden is like my time at Eikon. We don’t see the changes straight away, but one day we will notice three flowers.” – young person
Pictured is an Osteospermum flowering plant from J.Parkers, adding a splash of colour to the Tea Garden.
Volunteers got their hands in the soil
In June, Lucy from Bupa UK and Rose from a local marketing agency Space & Time Media, spent a day volunteering in the Tea Garden. Lucy and Rose helped with weeding, clearing and scrubbing, leaving our Tea Garden area looking spotless and ready for the gardening club to lay gravel and grow more plants.
Lucy and Rose said “Thank you so so much for organising the day. We had a great time… It was lovely to meet so many of the Eikon team and see so many young people using the services. It was fab!”
Joanne, Eikon Schools Team said “Lucy and Rose were lovely. They were happy to engage in any activity that was needed and were a ray of sunshine themselves.”
Thank you Lucy and Rose!
There are lots of different ways corporate teams can get involved and help young people in Surrey. You can find out more about corporate support here.
Fantastic furniture restored by Woking & District Men’s Shed
To complete the Tea Garden area, Woking & District Men’s Shed restored a set of old rusty, un-loved metal table and chairs. The furniture now has pride of place in the Tea Garden. Young people, staff and volunteers, and parents and carers can sit on the garden furniture and appreciate the new outdoor space for rest and reflection.
Thank you to Woking & District Men’s Shed for also donating two Swift Boxes – the young people at Gardening Clubs plan to use these in the main Hopes and Dreams Garden to support the local wildlife.
Generous support from Byfleet United Charity
We want to say a huge thank you the Byfleet United Charity who generously funded this Tea Garden restoration project as part of their donation after visiting our Garden Open Day in 2022.
“Gardening club is for all school years and is relaxing and somewhere to have a rest with nature.” – young person
We know that being outside with nature can have a significant positive impact on our wellbeing. Thanks to community support like this, our garden spaces at Eikon can continue to provide a safe space for young people to connect with nature, relax and have fun.
“The garden project is wonderful. It brings such joy. Thank you” – Guest at Garden Open Day 2023
How you can get involved…
All of us at Eikon and the young gardeners are so grateful for this community support! It has helped transform a space for everyone to enjoy and we couldn’t be happier with how it looks.
Do you want to help your community and spend time in nature?
We’re looking for adult volunteers to help us at weekly Gardening Clubs, or to provide ad-hoc help to maintain the garden. If you’re interested, please contact schools@eikon.org.uk for more information.
