Mayor of Slough Amjad Abbasi cuts the ribbon on the new garden at the Ujala Foundation community centre, with BBOWT Community Wildlife Officer Barbara Polonara left, in blue. Picture: Aqeel Akram
Residents of Slough discovered a secret green haven in the heart of the town at the official opening of a new community garden.
Dozens of locals joined the event at the Ujala Foundation community centre on Villiers Road on Tuesday, July 18, and were blown away by the wild space.
As well as a host of fruit and vegetables being grown such as tomatoes, onions and carrots, visitors also admired a new wildlife pond, hedgehog house, and saw solitary bees nesting in the giant ‘bug hotel’.
A Jersey tiger moth on a fig tree in the garden that BBOWT helped created at Slough's Ujala Foundation community centre. Picture: Barbara Polonara
They were even treated to a visit from a rare Jersey tiger - a large zebra-striped moth rarely seen this far north in England, showing off the garden’s wildlife credentials.
The garden has been created over the past six months by a women's group at the centre with help from neighbours and expert guidance from Berkshire, Buckinghamshire & Oxfordshire Wildlife Trust (BBOWT) to make the space as wildlife-friendly as possible.
BBOWT Community Officer Barbara Polonara, who has guided the work from the start, said:
"This day was such a success, I'm really happy and we had a really great turn-out. Some of the visitors were really surprised that we were growing tomatoes outdoors and said they’d love to try it, and one lady said she'd like to give us some plants she had at home to grow in the garden.
"The point of the open day, and of the whole garden, is to bring people together to help wildlife and also help their own health and wellbeing, and we absolutely saw that happening on Tuesday. One of the visitors said the big advantage of the garden is that it feels so safe - you can go and read a book and have a quite time, and that's so valuable - especially for elderly people who sometimes don't leave their flats very often."
The space behind the Slough Ujala community centre in January 2023 before BBOWT started leading work to create a garden. Picture: Barbara Polonara
Ms Polonara started helping to create the garden in January as part of BBOWT's Nextdoor Nature project which is helping people across Slough connect with nature.
At that time, the space behind the community centre was disused, unloved and a dumping ground for rubbish.
The garden work was largely led by two local women - Sharon Carty and Yolanda Benjamin, with assistance from volunteer women’s group leader Gaye Jeynes.
Creating the new community garden at Slough Ujala community centre. Picture: Barbara Polonara
They were supported by Zulfiqar Ali Warsi and Arshad Mehmood Janjua, founding members of the Ujala Foundation which was created to encourage understanding of cultures and religious tolerance in Slough.
While clearing rubbish the group found an old baby bath which they turned into a wildlife pond. They also discovered wild garlic already growing in the space which they encouraged.
A bird nest box has been put up on a wall, a compost heap was started and existing wildflowers have been allowed to blossom to encourage bees and butterflies to visit.
The large bug hotel at the Slough Ujala community centre garden. Picture: Pete Hughes
The four-foot high bug hotel was funded by Slough Borough Council contractor Osborne and built by disability charity Mencap Greenwich.
On Tuesday, Mayor Amjad Abbasi officially cut a ribbon to open the space, and was joined by councillors Mohammed Nazir and Shaida Akbar.
Ujala chairman Zulfiqar Ali Warsi gave a speech in which he said that all living beings, including humans, birds, animals and insects, were worthy of consideration and respect.
He quoted the Quran, saying: "There is not an animal that lives on the earth, nor a bird that flies on its wings, but they form communities like you."
Mayor of Slough Amjad Abbasi with Barbara Polonara from BBOWT (in blue) at the opening of the Ujala Foundation community garden. Picture: Fiona Bennett-Meere
Ms Polanara spoke to visitors about how they could help wildlife at home and ran a raffle in which the prizes were handmade wooden wildlife nest boxes created by Bob Keene of Bisham Nestbox Group and Mens’ Shed Burnham.
The event was also joined by some of the other people who BBOWT is working with as part of its Nextdoor Nature project in Slough, including Neline Kriek from St Paul's Church and Tagreed Ismail from Slough Council for Voluntary Services.
Ms Polonara said they were all inspired by the success of the Ujala garden, and are now hoping to repeat that success at similar projects across the town.
BBOWT’s project is part of the national Nextdoor Nature project by The Wildlife Trusts and funded by the National Lottery Heritage Fund to bring communities together to help nature flourish where they live and work.
Find out more at bbowt.org.uk/nextdoor-nature-projects
