Islington's Word Garden is an inspiring new oasis in the heart of the city
Islington has a new inspiring, restful place in the centre of the city – Islington’s first Word Garden.
The tranquil oasis in Kings Square Gardens was launched yesterday (Wednesday, 6 June) as part of this month’s Word2018 Festival, which celebrates the power of words and reading.
Designed by local older people at St Luke’s Centre, working with All Change, the Word Garden is inspired by memories and stories of the park and local area.
It features special benches customised with poetry, a new games table and a new planting scheme. The new planting will add colour and fragrances, designed to enable people who have sensory impairments to enjoy spending time in the space.
The garden is designed to look beautiful in all seasons, and to be a place for everyone in the community to enjoy and spend time together. The garden will be looked after by the council’s parks service and local community working together.
The garden was a collaboration between Islington Council’s library and parks services; St. Luke’s Community Centre and All Change artists Carl Stevenson and Francesca Beard. It is part of the Bunhill Ward Improvement Plan with investment from Bunhill councillors’ 106 funding and Arts Council of England funding.
The garden was officially launched by local residents and guests including children from King Square Nursery with Islington Mayor, Cllr Dave Poyser and local Cllr Claudia Webbe, who helped bring together different partner organisations to make the project happen.
Cllr Asima Shaikh, executive member for economic development, said: “Words have the power to transform lives, and our Word2018 festival is an exciting celebration of that.
“Islington’s new Word Garden at Kings Square Gardens is a quiet, restful space in the heart of the city for residents. It is a perfect spot to reflect, get inspiration and find peace from the words, plants and flowers within it.
“A huge thanks to our partners at St Luke’s Community Centre and All Change who made this happen. I invite all of our residents to visit, and look out for all the other fantastic activities happening this June as part of the festival.”
The garden uses unique therapy approaches such as bibliotherapy using books to help people solve issues they may face and ecotherapy aiming to promote mental and physical wellbeing in a green environment.
The Word Festival continues until 30 June. For more information, or for details of all the festival events visit @WordIslington orwww.wordfestivalislington.co.uk and view the brochure. Alternatively, pick up a copy in one of Islington’s 10 libraries and other venues.
For further information please contact:
Chris Roe, Media Manager
Tel: 020 7527 8751
Alternative contact - Media team: 020 7527 2307
Out of hours: 07769 163303
Email: chris.roe@islington.gov.uk
Follow us on Twitter @IslingtonBC and @IslingtonLife
Notes to editors
Notes to editors:
• The Word Garden launched on 6 June as part of Islington’s Word Festival
• The Word Garden is a collaboration betweenIslington Library Service,St. Luke’s Community Centre,All ChangeandIslington Council Parks Service.
• Word2018 is taking place from 1-30 June throughout Islington
• Word2018 is a collaboration between Islington Library and Heritage Services, Islington Arts Service, All Change and the Free Word Centre
• Word2018 is part of Islington Reads Strategy which found reading has been linked to greater wellbeing, life satisfaction, social connectedness, community spirit and helping to protect against life’s difficulties, with readers being 18% more likely to have higher self-esteem than non-readers. Nearly 50% of adults say reading makes them more empathetic people. For day to day benefits, reading has been shown to reduce stress levels after just six minutes.
• Bibliotherapy uses using books to aid people in solving the issues that they may be facing at a particular time. It consists of selecting reading material relevant to a person’s life situation.
• Ecotherapy is the name given to a wide range of programmes that aim to promote good mental and physical wellbeing through outdoor activity in a green environment. Being able to connect with nature has positive mental health benefits.
Contact information
If you are a member of the public with a general question about the council please view the contact information on our website or call 020 7527 2000.