The Kingsdown gardens bringing a community together

Sitting on a bright yellow bench and with knitted rainbow earrings dangling from her ears, Bernardita Munoz-Chereau explains how lockdown gave her the boost needed to turn her idea of a community garden into a reality.

What was once an overgrown street corner used for fly-tipping is now a green space named Dove Gardens, a name which Bernardita (known as Bernie) says was “democratically” chosen by local children.

The new community space is filled with flowers, rosemary bushes, a pear tree and painted signs. One reads “a smile is more contagious than a virus”.

“It’s not really about the garden, it’s about the gardening. It’s what happens around that,” she says. “All of these things, the benches, are collected or donated. Nothing is attached to fences so you could take them home, but people don’t.”

Bernardita Munoz-Chereau started the group ‘Grow Green Carolina’ to bring residents from Dove Street flats together during the pandemic – photo by Billy Stockwell

The new community gardens can be found dotted around the Dove Street estate, a series of council-owned tower blocks with some 1,200 residents to the west of Stokes Croft.

“We don’t have gardens at Dove Street flats. That was a real struggle during lockdown,” says Bernie.

Bristol24/7 reported last year that community gardens have been popping up around the city since the start of the pandemic, with people wanting to give something back and support their neighbours.

Bernie agrees that this was certainly the case at Dove Street flats. She says the area has its share of social problems, such as rough sleeping and drug-taking, but the vast majority of residents have shown a real desire to improve the community’s outdoor spaces.

Faced with isolation during lockdown, Bernie started a WhatsApp group called Grow Green Carolina to kickstart her gardening project, which she says turned neighbours into friends throughout the pandemic last year.

The group was named after one of the tower blocks and now has around 40 active members.

Bernardita Munoz-Chereau managed to get funding from a local community group to support her project – photo by Billy Stockwell

Another group in the area, Friendly Neighbours, has been supporting Grow Green Carolina by providing some initial funding, but Bernie says that they eventually want to become self-sustaining.

“This is not charity, this is agency. We don’t have to wait for funding, we can do things together. What happens with poverty, and in my case with immigration, is that you become resourceful,” she says.

Bernie came to the UK a decade ago to complete a PhD at the University of Bristol, but she now works at University College London as a Research Associate.

“That’s why I live here [next to the coach station] because I can’t afford the train,” she explains.

Last month, the community group set up a JustGiving page to help fund the gardening project. They have raised £535 so far, which is already over their target.

With the support of Friendly Neighbours, Grow Green Carolina has now put in a Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) application to the council that, if successful, will help transform a large outdoor space next to Carolina House.

Carolina House is one of three council blocks located on Dove Street, Kingsdown – photo by Billy Stockwell

However, Bernie says that this part of the estate could be demolished and therefore the application for funding might not be granted.

The Bristol Cable reported last month that detailed proposals about future plans for this space are due by the end of the year.

Tom Renhard, Labour’s cabinet member for housing, sought to reassure residents by saying that they would be fully consulted about the plans.

Bernie hopes that even if the demolition does happen at some point, her new gardening group can continue benefitting the community for the foreseeable future.

She believes that we need more initiatives like this, for people to engage in their local neighbourhoods and bring about positive change in society. “With global warming, this will be one solution, to grow your food locally and get children involved with looking after nature,” she says.

Visit Dove Gardens’ Facebook Page here to read their September newsletter.

Main photo by Billy Stockwell

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