Spitalfields Crypt Trust

Gardening

Our award-winning community gardens are in the grounds of St. Leonard’s Church at the heart of Shoreditch. The gardens sit right next to SCT’s hostel, Training and Development Centre, and two social enterprises, and they are carefully maintained by our students and volunteers throughout the year.

Our gardening students learn how to sow seeds, grow their own vegetables, and tend to the plants through the seasons. These classes are perfect for people who want to learn new things, get active, be in touch with nature and connect with others.

Click here for our full timetable

The sessions cover topics such as...

  • Sowing and growing
  • Organic gardening methods
  • A focus on our wildlife habitats
  • All aspects of garden maintenance (weeding, pruning, planting, mowing, edging and mulching)
  • Caring for our vegetable patch
  • Keeping the garden tidy and safe for our visitors
  • Propagation techniques
  • Seasonal plant care
  • Soil health
  • Planning and designing areas of the garden
  • Short horticulture course (coming soon)!
  • Cooking with our own produce (coming soon)!

Meet the Tutor

Leigh joined SCT in December 2022. Since 2018, Leigh has been supporting people in their recovery through social and therapeutic horticulture and believes fully in the healing remedy of growing together. She has a Level 2 Diploma in Horticulture from Walworth Gardens. Outside of SCT, Leigh co-founded a community garden in South East London which was set up in 2020, to share knowledge of food growing with those who don’t have green space a place to grow, as well as to give the community a place to create social ties.

Our students say

“There are only positive thoughts in the garden.”

 

“It’s like rehab for the mind”

 

“In gardening, you learn patience and how to be kind to yourself. If you can be kind to a tree or a patch of earth you can be kind to yourself. It is that self-care, looking after yourself properly, not just putting on band aids to cover deep wounds.”

 

“Working in the garden was more like play than work. I found I could just lose myself in each moment. I never felt more fully connected with the world, with creation.”

 

“Working in the garden at Shoreditch gives me a great sense of peace and fulfilment when I am totally involved in a project. This feeling doesn’t happen anywhere else right in the centre of London.”

 

“Gardening is all about turning over a new leaf – or leaves, as we have so many. It’s a chance for new growth.”

Join us

Click here to refer someone (or self-refer) today.

Get in touch

020 7729 6895

trainingdevelopment@sct.org.uk