The Urban Climate Proofing project went way beyond diverting rainfall; enhancing biodiversity, creating employment and training opportunities and improving best practice amongst councils, social housing providers and landscape architects.
What residents have said:
81% of residents either agree or strongly agree that we have improved the public green space in their neighbourhood.*
“We’ve even had people who don’t live on the estate walking through and saying what a beautiful space it is. It’s somewhere we want to stop and chat. So it’s really made a difference to our lives” Emma Griffiths, Queen Caroline resident
“The Life+ Project has made our estate really beautiful and it feels like we are part of a living, growing environment now. Whenever I walk around and see the changes it makes me happy” Shirley Culpit, Chair, Queen Caroline TRA
“This project has made a lot of improvements to the look of the estate, as well as helping to bring our community together” Ros O’Connell, Treasurer, Queen Caroline TRA
“The LIFE+ project has made me realise just how much difference greenery makes in the overall appearance of a place, as well as the positive impact on the environment. It has also shown me that we all can contribute towards these small changes to help make our local area a cleaner, safer and more beautiful community to live in” Ayesha Khan, Queen Caroline resident
What our partner and client has said:
“We’ve shown here with these three relatively small spaces that there’s a lot that can be achieved… Every time we come down here when it does rain, it seems to be achieving what we expect. It’s a great example of what can be achieved in a housing estate right in the heart of Hammersmith. You only have to see how the public are interacting with the space to see that there are benefits, and we need to be doing it more.
The scheme not only delivers a major improvement to our residents’ environment, but is also helping to reduce the impact of climate change, especially in terms of flood risk, through the type of interventions that can be rolled out across London. Groundwork London worked tirelessly to ensure that our residents were involved throughout the process and many residents have approached me since to tell me just how much they love the finished product”.
George Warren, Flood Risk Manager, London Borough of Hammersmith & Fulham
What the contractors have said:
Groundwork’s ‘Green Team’ trainees have undertaken much of the landscaping work.
“A really satisfying part of gardening work is watching people enjoy something that you’ve made. I’ve learnt how to handle machinery, gained some turfing skills, and hopefully lost a few pounds thanks to all the physical activity!” Louis MacDonald, Green Team Trainee
“Here at Queen Caroline, it was just an open space and we transformed it into a nice looking garden. We built these [raised beds] for the residents to grow their own fruit. It helps residents to get into planting and add their little touch to [the estate]”. Wayne Essiene, Green Team Trainee
“We’ve had an enormous amount of residents come and chat to us. A lot of people are really keen on the idea and we’ve had some really positive feedback. It’s great to see the difference you can make to a community, as well as the environment.”Jonathan Lyon, Greatford Garden Services