As part of the celebration of The Queen's Diamond Jubilee, members of Wandsworth congregations participated in a service project at Stave Hill Ecology Park based in Rotherhithe, South East London (SHED).
| Temple Square is always beautiful in the springtime. Gardeners work to prepare the ground for General Conference. © 2012 Intellectual Reserve, Inc. All rights reserved. | 1 / 2 |
On arrival the site manager, Rebeka, divided the 57 volunteers (who included the youth and primary age children) into a number of teams who were then assigned a range of mini projects to work on. These included continuation of the building of a fence, clearing debris as well as leaves and foliage from a public foot path.
The latter allowed parents to let their young children get involved with making insect habitat using wood, cloth and other materials. Within the project building itself participants were able to assist in building and fitting wood panelling to a wall and frame a window. At the same time others, including the youth, missionaries and toddlers, made patterned paving slabs on the entrance to what will be the visitors centre.
One design that stood out was of the tree of life. Inside the SHED Rebeka, highlighted that the flooring was made of the original stone slabs from Trafalgar Square which were retrieved during its refurbishment. There is a general commitment to recycling waste material and this was evident in other areas of the park.
At the conclusion of the day Rebeka gave a detailed guided tour of the park. From what was said, the area on which the park is built has a fascinating history dating back to the 12th century.
Work at the park is undertaken primarily by community volunteers and so it was a great privilege to have been able to contribute to this. This was particularly significant as it is an area that is widely used by members of the local community. Positive feedback on the day’s events was received from various volunteers; one person commented ‘it was fantastic, we should do it again’.