Islington community gardens reopens

A popular meeting place in the London borough of Islington has been reopened after the old one was destroyed, giving disabled park users a new area to meet.

Sunnyside Community Gardens, N19, which is known locally by users as 'The Shed' - was rendered unusable after a fire in late July, but has now been replaced by a brand new Portakabin.

After learning of the initial incident, Islington Council's parks team Greenspace and newbuild council homes contractor Mulalley collaborated on an approach to solve the problem, with Mulalley donating a brand new Portakabin that was officially opened by Councillor Rakhia Ismail, Islington Council's executive member for sustainability, this month.

Councillor Ismail commented: "Islington's parks are there to be enjoyed by everyone and we have made significant investment in improving them and making them more accessible. So I am delighted the Sunnyside Community Gardens' meeting place has been replaced little over a month after it was badly damaged by fire."

She also thanked Mulalley for their donation, which means disabled users and staff have somewhere dry, warm and safe to meet for community activities as autumn and winter approaches.

Salvatore Capotosto, project manager for Mulalley, said the company is pleased to be able to help Sunnyside Community Gardens with the "very important step" to fully restore the activities on offer at the popular venue.

"As part of our corporate social responsibility programme, Mulalley's is delighted to reprovide this facility for the benefit of the borough's community so it can strengthen social and learning activities for disabled people and other park users."

Sunnyside Community Gardens' Chairman David Arkin added: "The management and staff of Sunnyside Community Gardens wish to take this opportunity to thank Islington Council's Greenspace Team and Mulalley for providing a seamless transition for Sunnyside Community Gardens to recover from the recent arson attack by providing secure hoardings and a fully serviced Portakabin."

Without urgent and free response, the local community could have lost the opportunity to continue, Mr Arkin added.

The Sunnyside Community Gardens has been operated by Islington Council and volunteers since 1992 and runs education activities for older and disabled people including gardening and wildlife appreciation, as well as providing natural history and bicycle maintenance programmes for local schools, other groups and individuals from the community.

Published 20th September, 2013

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