This Saturday Peckham Rye Lib Dems got their hands dirty joining in with the Brenchley Gardens Community Tree Planting event.

This was a fantastic event organised by the charity Trees for Cities. Volunteers from across London joined local residents in creating a brand new community gardens in Peckham Rye. On Saturday fruit-bearing trees and an herb garden were planted. A vegetable garden is set to follow shortly in the near future.

The weather couldn’t have been kinder, as Peckham Rye was treated to fantastic sunshine. This helped bring the volunteers out, as the brass band kept everyone in high-spirits, and the face-painters made sure the kids had fun and got involved.

Trees for Cities are a great charity – local residents from across the estate got a chance to meet each other and work together to create something they’ll be able to enjoy for years to come. The charity gives lessons on how to care for the plants and grow things successfully. It’s a great way of bringing together the community in a fun and enjoyable way. It also helps people learn about healthy eating and keep fit. We’d encourage anyone to get involved with Trees for Cities and we’ve added a link to their site. Eating something you know you’ve grown yourself is a great treat!

Peckham Rye Lib Dems are committed to helping more people grow their own food. We’re currently looking at other local sites which would be suitable for small-scale food growing. We’ll also post any details of further Trees for Cities events on here. We’re also committed to planting more trees in Peckham Rye’s residential streets. Neighbouring East Dulwich ward’s Lib Dem councillors have arranged for a 220 trees to have been planted over the last 4 years. We think this is fantastic, and if elected in May, we will do the same in Peckham Rye.