Back in the 80s, Bankside was a ‘grot spot’ hotspot. Dereliction ran rife with homelessness, empty properties, unloved streets and abandoned spaces. It was no place to bring up kids. But Tim Wood did.
He came for the raves, and stayed, putting down roots on Lant Street with his young family and architecture start-up. 4 decades on he’s Chair of Bankside Open Spaces Trust (BOST) with a back catalogue of pockets parks that fill the area with pride, oxygen and optimism.
BOST brings communities together through green spaces. It was founded on this truth and still lives by it today, a dozen transformations later.
“I was a fan of Bankside from the start when it was this amazing artist community, but we’d just had kids, the schools were ins special measures, and they had nowhere to play. My local park featured one busted swing, a burnt-out car and scooter. It was a no-go-area. There were 20 to 30 rough sleepers in a cardboard city, like Waterloo. It was really bad, so few of us set up Friends of Mint Street Park.”
There’s something social in the soil. Enter Vicky Lawrence. She foresaw what BOST could be. She just needed a project. She met Tim and a few others, together they co-wrote a bid. Their story hit the £730k bullseye. Mint Street was transformed into a beautiful new park with colourful borders, terracing and a music stage.
It set the tone. More characters opened more doors to more spaces. Tate Community Gardens, created to give local people a slice of soulful sap beside the river. This urban oasis is where BOST community gardener Joe would like his ashes scattered. Red Cross Garden, where Octavia Hill dreamt up National Trust, Army Cadets and inspired a legacy of women who went on to change society. Emma Cons, founder of Morley College & the Old Vic. Janet Johnson, Poor Law reformer. Elizabeth Casson, founder of Occupational Therapy.
“Red Cross is some story. We got a 25yr lease and a hefty grant from the lottery because of the history. Octavia was a visionary. She felt that the first social housing projects were too dense that led to poor environments. So, she created these back-to-back homes, this shared garden and open-air sitting room, with the residents looking after it. In 1886, this was out there, in every way possible.”
“She’s our patron saint. When we’re in trouble, we ask ‘what would Octavia do? She started the Kyrle Society in Red Cross Hall, a kind of top-down access to culture for poor people. She wanted to educate with dance and theatre. We’d love to get the National Trust to buy the hall. If we can prove she had her meetings here to start the trust, I don’t think they’d have a choice.”
Not every BOST project is the spiritual home of a national treasure. But many have a trailblazer founder. Take Marlborough Sports Gardens (MSG). Consuelo Vanderbilt, Duchess of Marlborough, saw what Octavia did at Red Cross and bought some land for local poor people as a recreation ground. This is the story that sparked the Olympic rebirth of the space in 2012, with beach volleyball making this old concrete elephant feel like Rio.
“We’re now fundraising for the final phase – an incredible, sustainable transformation that’s been driven by the community. We’re adding indoor spaces and refreshed pitches that will deliver the vision of accessible free sports provision for those who need it most, plus affordable heathy food in the new café which we want to call Consuelo’s. We’re also adding a whole lot of green to bring MSG up to BOST green standards.”
Tim is fond of all the places they’ve given a new kiss of life to and can’t quite decide on where he wants his ashes. He also loves the way Bankside stokes its past. Be that Omeara, a small gig venue for emerging artists, run by Ben Lovett and his indie label, Communion Records, reincarnating the energy of the Clink Street raves with hot-wired nights. Or the new dynamite vicars. Father Ben Bell at Saint George the Martyr, and Lee Chantler, a former stand-up comic who’s like a Vaudeville act, bringing people off the streets into the warmth of the church. Heartwarming, body-warming, human-warming.
BOST has got a reputation now. Bigger parks with bigger trees (too big to hug) are begging for help and time and love. Tim hesitates. “These giant Plane trees are woven into the fabric of London’s streets and parks. They’re all the same age, from the same stock, fighting the same disease – ‘massaria’. It eats from the outside in. They need major surgery. We want to keep our feet on the ground.”
So where next? “It’s not where, it’s who. We’re about people, and people need purpose. We run a thing called Future Gardeners. 10-week free course to get people into horticulture. There’s a strong local take up and grads get part one City & Guilds, which gets you ready for work. Some go on to do part two with groundworks contractors. It’s been a real success, and it’s free.”
“We try to make everything free or affordable for those who are in need. We rent out 5-a-side pitches in the evening to pay for free coaching for local kids in school time. We’re not a commercial operation. We just make community centres without walls, and people take the spaces on as their own.”
