Vinnie O’Connell FLS, is a keen amature gardener, plant historian and youth worker, he founded new Leaf in 2006. Using wasteland either side of the platforms at West Dulwich station, new Leaf is creating a garden as a resource for the local community to enjoy.
We hope it will become a place where local people of all ages can come and learn about the plant and insect life on our doorstep in Dulwich and Southwark. We would like to run more regular gardening workshops for locals and children. Based on the simple fact that the more you know about the environment, the more you will care for it.
new Leaf is a voluntary community group that depends on the generosity of local people and businesses to survive. new Leaf won the South London Press’s Community Project of the Year 2010 and has the official backing of the Linnean Society, the oldest biological society in the world. Councillor Ann Kingsbury of Thurlow Park Ward has said, “it is a pleasure to watch the garden coming along. The young people making their reparations have cleared it very effectively and the plants that have been put in are beginning to flourish. People regularly stop to look. Even the rubble has been put into service as a decorative feature! The garden has attracted the attention and support of local organisations and even the Linnaean Society.”
If you would like to help please send us an email or link to our Facebook page.