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"I helped give Childs Hill Library a new lease of life. In 2017 it was scheduled to close but for the past 9 years I've been volunteering with Kisharon, a Jewish Orthodox organisation which works with learning- and physically-disabled adults and children, and we went into partnership with Barnet and managed to get a 10-year-lease. Now we have an adult day centre, and a nursery school called 'Tuffkid'- and boy are they tough, they just whiz around in their wheelchairs. I also volunteer with the London School of Jewish Studies which helped train me in how to work in a library.
“I've always had a garden, I grew up getting muddy, and both the front and back gardens here were so neglected. So when we re-opened the library, I went next door to the Catholic school and asked, 'Do you do gardening?'. When they said 'No', I said, 'We'd love to do a garden club' and they said, 'Oh that’s a good idea!' The first year we had 12 kids who came in and we had absolutely nothing - no fruit trees or flowers and no plants in the front other than ivy. The local garden centre gave us loads of plants for free, and the Tree Council gave us a grant to plant fruit trees. Then I had to train the kids. I'd go, 'Now you are going to dig to Australia – make a big hole!' and they'd go, 'Miss, there’s a worm – can we keep it? and I'd go, 'No – It goes home'. None of these kids had ever done any gardening. Most of them live in flats on a big council estate so they don't get the chance. I have one volunteer who helps me when she can, and one of their teachers comes and is a big help too. We do it once a week. The kids sign up for a year, from September through to July, and now they literally fight to come in. Then they take home the apples, courgettes, beans, and wibbly-wobbly carrots they've helped grow. We have so much fun together, and my kids know that they have to give back to the world. You can't always be a taker. It's very gratifying."
"I helped give Childs Hill Library a new lease of life. In 2017 it was scheduled to close but for the past 9 years I've been volunteering with Kisharon, a Jewish Orthodox organisation which works with learning- and physically-disabled adults and children, and we went into partnership with Barnet and managed to get a 10-year-lease. Now we have an adult day centre, and a nursery school called 'Tuffkid'- and boy are they tough, they just whiz around in their wheelchairs. I also volunteer with the London School of Jewish Studies which helped train me in how to work in a library.
“I've always had a garden, I grew up getting muddy, and both the front and back gardens here were so neglected. So when we re-opened the library, I went next door to the Catholic school and asked, 'Do you do gardening?'. When they said 'No', I said, 'We'd love to do a garden club' and they said, 'Oh that’s a good idea!' The first year we had 12 kids who came in and we had absolutely nothing - no fruit trees or flowers and no plants in the front other than ivy. The local garden centre gave us loads of plants for free, and the Tree Council gave us a grant to plant fruit trees. Then I had to train the kids. I'd go, 'Now you are going to dig to Australia – make a big hole!' and they'd go, 'Miss, there’s a worm – can we keep it? and I'd go, 'No – It goes home'. None of these kids had ever done any gardening. Most of them live in flats on a big council estate so they don't get the chance. I have one volunteer who helps me when she can, and one of their teachers comes and is a big help too. We do it once a week. The kids sign up for a year, from September through to July, and now they literally fight to come in. Then they take home the apples, courgettes, beans, and wibbly-wobbly carrots they've helped grow. We have so much fun together, and my kids know that they have to give back to the world. You can't always be a taker. It's very gratifying."
