Greener Streets Campaign: Look what we did!

Helen John, 31, lives on a housing estate in south London with her husband, Edward, and their two daughters. She and her neighbours have set up a community kitchen garden.

‘There are 115 houses on our estate and a mixture of families, professional couples and elderly residents. The street has a 1960s design with a lot of concrete, and a few of us thought it could do with a little greening up.

‘The estate is run by the Delawyk Residents Management Organisation. Each year it receives an allowance from the council for general upkeep, and we're involved in how it's spent.

‘First of all, we created a kitchen garden the whole neighbourhood could use. It was great to do something for the estate as a whole, and the  local kids loved helping with the digging, planting and growing. It's now in its second year and we'd love to dig more plots.

‘We've also managed to get £8000 from the London Borough of Southwark, The City Bridge Trust and the Esmée Fairbairn Foundation to plant a small orchard of fruit trees on the estate.

‘We're delighted and can't wait for the planting to go ahead. We also have plans to build a series of raised beds, some sensory gardens and to install permeable paving instead of concrete.'

* The charity Trees for Cities will be helping the residents of Delawyk Crescent with their green renovations.