Last weekend we held a tea party in Kirkwood Nature Reserve. We ran this in collaboration with The Friends of Cossall Park and Kirkwood Nature Reserve and the Cossal Estate Tennants Association.
Despite the drizzle we had lots of fun with an upbeat local spirt shining through. As you might expect, we had a whole bunch of tea and cakes (big thank you to the local Peckham Asda and Morrison's for the generous donations)....
It was also a really great opportunity for local residents and neighbours to meet, some for the first time.
We were able to get people's thoughts and ideas on the Coal Line too. This engagement is central to the project and its success. We talk, listen, integrate and inspire each other, collectively forming ideas and aspirations into the proposals.
The people at the tea party loved the idea of being able to get to the two high streets of Peckham more quickly and easily and hoped the Coal Line would encouragd more people to use the much loved Kirkwood Nature Reserve. Then some of the kids hoped there would be a train themed swing as part of the route too!
Also during the afternoon we had people picking apples...
....then working hard to press them so we could have fresh apple juice (it was harder than you might expect!)
We had bug hunting and some other activities for the kids too.
Then we were lucky enough to have Alan and Steve play a few tracks for us as well!
All in all it was a great afternoon!
What the tea party and the other events we've run so far has shown us, is that the Peckham Coal Line project can help to connect people from across Peckham even before any physical infrastructure is built. We hope we can be one part of contributing to building a more resilient and connected community in Peckham and beyond.
We couldn't have made this event happen without the amazing support and hard work of Lesley, Jacki & Alan. So thank you all so much!
We hope to run more events like this over the coming months. But to do that we need your help to crowd fund the next stage of the project - and take this ambitious idea one step closer to reality. You can show your support and donate by visiting our Spacehive page now.
Thanks Thomas Glen & Louise Armstrong for the photos. You can see more on the Friends of Kirkwood Nature Reserve Facebook page here.
