Community garden opens in Dereham
The community turned out in force
The Dereham community turned out in force today (13 September) for the grand opening of the new community space, the Ellenor Fenn garden situated by Wright's Walk.
Led by Cllr Paul Hewett, Breckland Council's Executive Director for Property and Projects, all key parties involved in making the garden happen said what it meant to their organisations and how pleased they've been to be involved in the project.
Cllr Hewett commented:
"The garden is a fabulous asset to the town. It's amazing just what can be achieved when various organisations work together, and it is great to see a community come together to celebrate a brighter future. Right in the heart of Dereham, I hope the Ellenor Fenn garden and performance area will become a fantastic space for residents and visitors to relax in and catch up with friends or family while out visiting or shopping in Dereham."
The representatives from about Dereham Partnership, the Baptist Church and Dencora all then acknowledged the work that had gone into the garden sharing their joy to see it completed. Individuals and organisations who had given their time and donations to support the garden were thanked on posters displayed around the garden.
Trevor Ogden, Chairman of the Dereham Heritage Trust told those gathered a little about Ellenor Fenn and why the garden was named after this great educationalist.
The audience were then treated to Joyce Miller's 'Wake up Britain' poem she penned at the end of the lockdown to stir the country into rediscovering itself as a nation by taking greater pride in its town centres, becoming a more equal country, caring for the elderly and supporting the vulnerable. The crowd joined Joyce in reading the poem with a rousing Union Jack flag waving to finish.
Following the cutting of the ribbon ceremony and photos, people took a look at some about Dereham Partnership stalls. The children got stuck into arts and crafts and listened to story time with Janet Cunningham from the Dereham library. The garden now has an adjoining gate to the Baptist Church garden where refreshments were served.
Justin Dack, a well-known community champion often reminds the people of Dereham to be proud of their town, and he commented today saying:
"It's great to see the garden completed, it's a nice place to come and sit and pause a while. Dereham needs to keep regenerating its public spaces encouraging its residents to be proud of them and not put up with those people intent on spoiling them. The public feeling about the destruction of some of the yarnbombing exhibits recently tells us that we won't keep putting up with it."