Hello from Norwood Collective
Shhh… don’t tell anyone, but I’m not a native south Londoner. I’m actually from east London but I’ve fallen in love with this place to such an extent that I hope I’m qualified to shout form the rooftops about it.
Since moving here I’ve been amazed by the strong sense of community, not just in West Norwood, where I live, but in surrounding areas, West Dulwich, Crystal Palace, Streatham and everywhere across south east London. Neighbours look out for each other, community pocket gardens, book boxes and community-funded murals are popping up everywhere. Neighbours organise street parties, cutting off traffic so children can play out safely, the council are funding residents to improve their streets, plant more trees and create more wildflower meadows. One a larger scale, we have West Norwood Feast, an amazing volunteer-led festival, held every month between April and December including a food market, arts and crafts, a family and well-being hub and performances by local bands. Soup kitchens, outreach facilities for the elderly and vulnerable, mending workshops and park maintenance, all run by volunteers, all working together to make our community and environment even better.
I want to celebrate these efforts, and help those wanting to join in by sharing news, events and knowledge gained from talking to all the lovely people who make up our local community.
What can you expect from this blog?
As well sharing all the wonderful things about our community; I will promote the environment; share ideas for enjoying nature, tips for living more sustainably, and tools and ideas for improving your local neighbourhood. I will shortly be promoting a toolkit I’ve put together for residents wishing to become Street Champions and improve their streets.
Local Green Heroes
At the heart of this campaign I will be championing our #LocalGreenHeroes. These are local businesses and individuals who are each doing their bit for the environment. I will shortly be publishing interviews with our Local Green Heroes on this blog and promoting them on each of my three platforms, Instagram, Facebook and Twitter. I’m always on the look out for more green heroes so please let me know if you know anyone who fits the bill and use our hashtag #LocalGreenHeroes.
