Minutes:
Helen, from the Bankside Open Spaces Trust gave a presentation on what the trust did. Helen explained that the trust had been formed to help people interested in protecting and developing local parks in the Bankside area. The trust brings together different steering groups and assists them in navigating bureaucracy and securing funding. The organisation is run by local trustees and is dependent on grant funding.
The trust is involved in supporting local projects such as gardening clubs and also works to raise awareness of planning developments such as the Southwark Plan. Helen explained that the benefit of an organisation like the trust allowed different groups to work together and think more strategically.
Helen took a questions relating to food growing initiatives in the area. Helen advised that the Bankside trust had secured funding for an initiative in the SE1 area. She advised that local TRA were a good place to start to build interest in food growing schemes.