Tideway breathes new life into BCH community garden

Tideway breathes new life into a community garden

Volunteers from the team currently constructing part of London’s Thames Tideway Tunnel in Hammersmith have recently taken the time to reinvigorate a garden at a local community centre.
Dubbed the ‘super sewer’, the tunnel will stop millions of tonnes of wastewater spewing into the river, protecting one of London’s greatest natural assets. It will modernise the capital’s ageing sewage system, originally built by the Victorians, and provide additional capacity for London to continue to grow and prosper.

The green-fingered helpers from Tideway, the organisation delivering the tunnel, spent many hours over a number of weeks at Bishop Creighton House in Lillie Road, to breathe life back in to its garden which had become rather overgrown in recent years.

The centre has been supporting the communities of west London since 1908 and offers a variety of services for both old and young, encouraging people to drop in and use its facilities as a meeting place.
Tasks for the volunteers included clearing rubbish, cutting back overgrown shrubs, installing new trellising, jet washing paving and repainting benches and planters, all to make it functional for the centre again.

Kelly Bradley, Legacy and Community Investment Manager, said:

“The team was so enthusiastic and really put in the time to make a difference for the community in Hammersmith. We’re really proud of the dedication our staff have shown to give something back and we look forward to doing lots more work in the area in future.”

Work on the western section of the tunnel is being completed by a joint venture of contractors from BAM Nuttall, Morgan Sindall and Balfour Beatty.

Tim Corrigan, project director for the joint venture, said:

“Supporting the local communities where we are working and leaving a lasting legacy is a key objective of the team delivering Tideway.   

“Bishop Creighton House offers support to so many people and we were happy to assist.  Receiving the thanks and hearing how people are already benefiting from enjoying the garden again makes our contribution all the more valuable.”

Joy Wilson, Older People’s Services Manager for Bishop Creighton House, said:

Tideway has spent many hours over 6 weeks helping us clear our communal garden of rubbish and smarten it so it can be used and enjoyed again by our community.

We are all very much enjoying the improvement to our garden and have benefitted hugely from the partnership with Tideway.”