WHAT PEOPLE HAVE SAID

'This garden is a wondrous thing... I would love it if every child had the opportunity to grow and explore their relationship with the earth and with nature whilst at school.'

Helen Browning

CEO of the Soil Association

'This garden gives our children an opportunity to discover where our food comes from... and how magical soil can be.'

MICHAEL GOVE

Former Secretary of State for the Environment

'I wholeheartedly commend the work of Arcadia and their Growing Space project. The gardens at Christ Church and St Helen’s Kensington are a delight and an inspiration, at a time when we need more than ever to learn how we can provide for our needs in collaboration with the natural world, rather than rivalry and exploitation.'

Brian Cuthbertson

Head of Environment and Sustainability, Diocese of London

‘Growing Space by Arcadia Charitable Trust and all the winners can be proud of their achievements – action to tackle the climate and environmental crises we face requires business and industry, civil society and our politicians to step up and lead the transformation and change needed’.

Sarah Mukherjee

CEO of IEMA

'How thrilled and impressed Roald would be by your projects that inspire school children to enjoy gardening. He of course loved his garden, especially growing vegetables.'

Mrs DAHL

Roald Dahl

'The Growing Space at Christ Church has transformed our South Garden. It’s now a beautiful space used by so many in our congregation. It could not have been possible without the initiative of the Growing Space team. We are really thankful for the transformation they have achieved.'

Christ Church Kensington

'The Growing Space at Christ Church is a fantastic resource, which encourages children to take an active role in the process of planting and growing a large variety of plants. The space has been really well designed to be a practical and engaging area for teaching and learning to take place out of the classroom. The Growing Space is also developing into a place where the whole local community can take an active role in championing sustainability and biodiversity.'

Thomas's School, Kensington

Jo Ebner

'What a joy it has been to watch the Growing Space garden flourish, and become a magical space for children and adults. The teachers at Gardens Montessori have so enjoyed observing the children's excitement as they watch the seeds they have planted become flowers, fruits or vegetables. They have tasted the vegetables, made stews and herb teas, and have particularly enjoyed eating the fruit, especially the strawberries. The Forest School has given them the opportunity to track insects, listen to birds, and to explore all the properties of mud! It is an enchanting, ever-changing space, and huge thanks to Pascale and her helpers.'

Gardens Montessori

Felicity Marrian

'I had the pleasure of joining the Growing Space team as one of the first volunteers in 2017 and saw it transform from an overgrown patch of weeds behind Christ Church Kensington into a beautiful edible garden for the community to share. It has truly developed into a space for those of all walks of life to enjoy and a platform to teach local primary school pupils about gardening, woodworking, and the world around them. I can truly say that none of it would’ve been possible without the leadership, knowledge, positivity, and fortitude of Founder and Team Leader Pascale Rochefeuille. She has taught me everything I know about gardening: planting, weeding, cutting, and everything in between. With a background in biology, she really is a wealth of knowledge and has been an excellent role model for me as I start my own entrepreneurial ventures. To that end, I absolutely love coming to the garden to volunteer, and it’s been so rewarding working with the children and seeing the looks on their faces when they’re able to create projects out of materials found in the garden and eat food that they helped grow! I would without hesitation recommend any prospective visitors and volunteers to get in touch with Pascale to learn more – you will love your time in the garden!'

Alex

Young Adult Volunteer

'Volunteering at the Growing Space has been an absolute joy. Seeing the transformation over the years has required hard work and patience but has really paid off. We have a fabulous team spirit and a brilliant leader, Pascale. It is such a privilege to be able to contribute to the community. Far from being a chore, it has been a pleasure and I would recommend it to anyone.'

Poppy

Duke of Edinburgh Volunteer, Gold

'I love volunteering at the Growing Space garden every weekend for the past 3 years. Pascale has taught me all the tips and tricks to gardening and even inspired me to start gardening in California during lockdown. Growing up in a city, it’s really important for children to experience nature and growing something from scratch and seeing where their food comes from. You can really see the excitement in the children when they plant a seed or pick a tomato. I would recommend volunteering at the Growing Space garden, it’s the best volunteering I have done!'

Yazzie

Duke of Edinburgh Volunteer, Silver

'Volunteering at Growing Space has been such a privilege. It has provided me with many skills and a great activity for the weekends, in addition to being a great volunteering activity for my duke of Edinburgh award. It also provided me with the rare opportunity to be part of of a project from its very beginning . Thank you Pascale for being such an inspiring leader!'

Ella

Duke of Edinburgh Volunteer, Gold

'Volunteering at the garden is really fun. There’s always such a cheerful atmosphere, and I am learning a lot about gardening. There are new things to do every week, such as planting flowers or weeding the flowerbeds. I particularly enjoy trimming the leaves so that more tomatoes or squashes can grow. It’s really satisfying seeing the garden develop and grow after hard work'

Anna

Duke of Edinburgh Volunteer, Gold

'My two boys have spoken endlessly about how much they have enjoyed their gardening activities with Pascale (a modern day green fingered Mary Poppins) and this year my little 3 year old daughter joined them too. They come home with so much knowledge and facts about nature. It has instilled in them a love of the natural world and an eagerness to take care of it. The only complaint they had was that it wasnt long enough, which goes to show how interested they are. They cannot wait for future workshops as all three of them have had such a wonderful time.'

Sevar

Local Mum

'Our children are always excited to visit the garden and we find the courses to be very informative and fun. The teachers are very
well prepared and are very good at transferring that information to the children. We’ve been recommending it to our friends and look forward to attending more courses in the future.

We feel that the Growing Space has become an integral part of the local community and very much look forward to its future development.'

Feng Ze Yeh  

Family ambassador

'Growing Space holds a very special place in my heart since I have discovered this hidden gem when teaching at Victoria Road Gardens Montessori nursery in 2015. At that time it was a wilderness area, where we started to run Forest School sessions. Later Arcadia Charitable Trust transformed the space into a beautiful edible fully sustainable and organic woodland garden, where I love spending time with my three children, planting seeds, hunting bugs and worms, tasting herbs, harvesting fruits and veg and collecting wonderful memories in nature. 
I feel honoured and grateful to be a family ambassador at this constantly evolving and flourishing Growing Space!'

Desiree Boyneburg

Family Ambassador