The Friends of Tower Hamlets Cemetery Park won the Community Award at the RE:LEAF Awards 2011. The award, for the most successful project inspired, driven and delivered by a local community, was presented on 1st December at a prestigious awards ceremony held in the Living Room at City Hall. This follows the Friends’ triumph last year, when they won the Biodiversity Award in the 2010 London Tree & Woodland Awards, the predecessor to RE:LEAF.
RE:LEAF is an initiative led by the Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, which aims to protect the capital’s trees and woodlands and to encourage individual Londoners, businesses and organisations to plant more trees in the capital. The awards recognise and celebrate the projects, and the individuals, groups and organisations, that are making significant contribution to RE:LEAF.
The award was due to the hard work of The Friends of Tower Hamlets Cemetery Park, the charity that is responsible for the daily care and management of London’s most urban woodland – Tower Hamlets Cemetery Park. The Friends manage the Park across three broad themes of wildlife, people and education, while preserving the historic content. The group works entirely with volunteer input which involves over 3000 volunteers a year engaged on practical nature conservation projects.
There is an extensive events programme of over 130 public walks and volunteering activities, which are offered, free of charge and open to all. Walk themes include, butterflies, food for free, bats, moths and wildflowers, to name but a few.
Kenneth Greenway, Cemetery Park Liaison Officer for the Park, excitedly said “I’m so pleased that the Friends and the work of our many volunteers improving the Cemetery Park are being recognised. We all work hard to make the Cemetery Park a showcase for managing urban green space for wildlife, people and education. Thank you to all the volunteers, without whom we wouldn’t have been able to apply.”
