A princess unveiled a gardening charity’s new sustainable centre in Battersea Park.
The charity, which uses gardening to bring about positive changes in the lives of people living with disabilities or ill health, works in three areas of the south London park.
Thrive’s royal patron HRH Princess Alexandra enjoyed a tour of the charity’s new centre on Wednesday, October 15, and took time to speak to every gardener.
In the training room at the centre gardeners delighted in telling their special guest about plant identification which forms a part of their level one work-based horticulture qualification.
The Princess then moved outside where she spoke to gardeners tidying up potted plants ready to sell to the public before meeting guests of the charity, including the mayor of Wandsworth Councillor Stuart Thom.
The new centre has an office, adaptable training rooms, tool and boot storage, toilet and shower facilities, kitchen with a cooker embracing the 'sow it, grow it, eat it’ philosophy, which all open onto an orangery which spans the front of the building.
The centre is low maintenance, has robust finishes inside and out and is as environmentally-friendly as possible.
Rainwater is collected from the main roof for plant watering and the materials used are timber and natural slate with a recycled aggregate specified for the concrete.
Thrive has started raising £30,000 of funds to create a garden outside.
At the end of the visit, the princess was presented with a floral bouquet of herbs by gardener Jim Austin.
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here