How It Began
The pandemic period gave us the opportunity to think about how to breathe new life into the area of wasteland between Christchurch Road and Roupell Road.
This area served as a vital through route, especially for young students on their way to nearby schools.
Determined to make a change, we applied for a grant from Near Neighbours and were overjoyed to receive £2,575.00 in support. With this backing, we partnered with Social Landscapes to organize a series of transformative workshops involving our community members.
We embarked on a journey of creativity and reinvention, to make an inviting garden out of what was once a neglected space.
Our residents christened this newly revitalized area “Huggins Corner,” paying homage to the memory of Margaret and William Huggins, the famous astronomers who lived around the corner at 90 Upper Tulse Hill.
There’s more about the transformation of Huggins Corner in this blogpost from December 2023.
Our Vision
Together with Social Landscapes we created a plan for the garden, with pathways, wildflower patches, a kids’ area, a mural, and planters.
“This community space will impact on a large number of people, not just those of us who would be directly involved but everyone who passes through the area.”
Local Resident
Delivering Our Plan
Once we had our plan in place, we kept on working to turn it into a reality.
April 2022
We received funding from our Housing Association, MTVH, which owns this area. With the help of Pinnacle and local residents, we built and planted three beautiful planters in Huggins Corner. Our dedication to this project kept going strong and we applied for several sources of funding.
August 2022
We won funding from the Brockwell Live community fund to help with Huggins Corner (special thanks to Cllr Saleha Jaffer for her support).
December 2022
We were overjoyed to discover that we had won two significant grants! One was the Changing Lives grant from Lambeth, and the other was the Grow Back Greener fund from the Mayor of London. It felt like a dream come true!
We also had extra funding from MTVH, plus a contribution from the two other Housing associations who manage our estate (Southern Housing and Notting Hill Genesis).
From January 2023
We partnered with Urban Growth to bring our plan to life, with valuable support from MTVH.
While budget constraints forced us to scale down our project, we continued to create a lovely garden for people to stroll through, a sanctuary for local wildlife, and a testament to what a community can achieve when local residents join forces.
Here’s some of the things we accomplished:
☘️ Painting the bollards in collaboration with students from Streatham Wells Primary School.
☘️ Adorning the perimeter walls with a beautiful pink and blue gradient, including the name “Huggins Corner” on one of the walls.
☘️ Removing the asphalt covering the entire area. (more details here in this blog post).
Recent and current projects include:
☘️ Creating and improving pathways for people to explore the garden.
☘️ Laying down turf and planting bulbs and wildflower seeds, involving local residents and making the space greener and more biodiverse.
☘️ Installing bug hotels and crafting new signage, to safeguard wildlife and help residents to enjoy our community garden and learn about biodiversity.
☘️ In late 2025, winning new support for Huggins Corner from the Co-op Local Community Fund. The funding will help us to encourage biodiversity learning. We plan to install new educational signage in the garden and organise simple, fun activities with local schools and residents.
Check this space for more updates!
Everything we’ve achieved owes much to the kind-hearted local residents, the unwavering support from our community, and the local Housing Associations.
Moving forward, we are still in need of volunteers to help maintain this special community garden. If you’re interested in joining our efforts, please don’t hesitate to reach out to us. Your involvement can make a world of difference!
St Martins TRA 