The Lakeside Garden Club is a free programme designed to introduce ways of growing and nourishing a garden while also connecting with creativity through making, observing, and cooking.
Sessions will be held fortnightly at the Lakeside Centre garden space. Each club session will feature two activities. The activities will change fortnightly, although some will run across 2 sessions. These are all listed below.
All are welcome to take part, but children must be supervised. Each session will have a books and crafts station, tea & coffee, and space to relax in the gardens. All materials will be provided.
Sessions will be led by knowledgeable Bow Arts artists.
Please book you free space on Eventbrite. Booking closes 1 hour before the session starts.
Walk-in spaces are available, but limited.
18th May
Activity 1: Building communal wooden planters
Activity 2: Introduction to growing vegetables and herbs
1st June
Activity 1: Building communal wooden planters
Activity 2: Introduction to growing cut flowers
15th June
Activity 1: Recycled paper-making with wild flowers, plants and seeds.
Bring your own materials such as food packaging, old cards, newspapers, magazines, colour tissue paper etc. to make paper from your own waste.
Activity 2: Sewing biennial flowers
Sow flowers for year round arrangements and seasonal interest across the garden. Bring old seed trays or small pots to sow along for home.
29th June
Activity 1: Creating a mosaic table top
Activity 2: Maintaining the gardens and renovating the garden seating
13th July
Activity 1: Creating a mosaic table top
Gary Drostle, renowned mosaic artist will be sharing his skill, offering a chance to contribute to the making of a small-scale mosaic tabletop in the gardens. This will be the last of two sessions.
Activity 2: Cooking with garden produce
Utilising herbs, vegetables and edible flowers grown in the garden, we will be making simple food together to share. Please feel free to bring something to share.
27th July
Activity 1: Using watercolours to draw from the garden
Artist and educator, Edita Juchneviciene will be hosting the first of two sessions utilising the garden and its produce as an environment to observe, learn and practice using watercolours. The second session will be on August 24th.
Activity 2: Growing vegetables and flowers over winter
Utilising our communal beds, we will run through growing vegetables and flowers over winter including an introduction to varieties, soil preparation, sowing and transplanting.
3rd August*
Activity 1: Creating ceramic tableware for the end of Summer feast
Ceramicist Mariana Alemany will lead a workshop giving chance to explore and play with clay, creating vessels to use in the garden for eating our Summer feast. This will be the first of two sessions, with a the latter date (14th August) offering a chance to glaze the ceramics.
Activity 2: Cooking with garden produce
Utilising herbs, vegetables and edible flowers grown in the garden, we will be making simple food together to share. Please feel free to bring something to share.
*This is to replace the 10th August date, as the artists will be at the Thamesmead Festival.
24th August
Activity 1: Using watercolours to draw from the garden
Artist and educator, Edita Juchneviciene will be hosting the final session utilising the garden and its produce as an environment to observe, learn and practice using watercolours.
Activity 2: Glazing ceramic tableware for the end of Summer feast
Ceramicist Mariana Alemany will lead the last workshop giving an introduction to glazing. Using the tableware created on 3rd August, we will be applying a simple glaze in preparation for our Summer feast.
7th September
Activity 1: Creating a giant collage on the fence
Artist and educator Chloe Cooper will be running a workshop using the fence as a space to decorate and play with ideas, text, colour and shapes.
Activity 2: Harvesting and cooking a Summer feast
To celebrate the end of the programme and the coming together of local residents in the making of the Garden Club, we will be harvesting and preparing food, utilising vegetables, herbs, fruit and edible flowers from the garden. Please feel free to bring something along to share.
Please note, Programme Activities are subject to change, and updates will be available on the @lakeside_centre Instagram account and the Bow Arts website.
The artists delivering these sessions are: Anne Poole, Miyuki Kasahara, Gary Drostle, Edita Juchneviciene, Mariana Alemany, Marcus Orlandi, Dominika Kieruzel, and Chloe Cooper.
The nearest public transport station is Abbey Wood (National Rail, Elizabeth Line).
You can access the Lakeside Centre by bus routes 117, 180, 229, 401, 472, 601, 602 669, N1
Please note parking is not available.
Bike shed on site.
Lakeside Centre facilities: Public toilets with wheelchair access and baby changing facilities.
For full access information and queries, please email eandp@bowarts.com.