St Mary’s and the Parish of Walthamstow are pleased to announce the appointment of Tim Hewitt as Community Gardener.
Tim has been St Mary’s Head Gardener since 2017; in that time, the churchyards have received national recognition by the Royal Horticultural Society, and through Tim’s successful ‘Burials in Bloom’ project, dozens of local residents now regularly volunteer to care for neglected graves and engage in biodiversity projects in our churchyard, the largest green space in Walthamstow Village.
The Community Gardener is a newly-created position supported by the National Lottery Heritage Fund as part of St Mary’s £3.37 million ‘Creative Church’ regeneration project, which will see Walthamstow’s oldest building restored and regenerated, with works to begin later this year.
Previously, Tim balanced his work in St Mary’s Churchyard with a full slate of private clients, but now rather than work for only few hours per week in the churchyard, funding from the National Lottery will enable us to employ Tim for three full days per week for three years. As part of this role, Tim will introduce new opportunities for residents – especially under-represented groups – to learn about horticulture and to engage in community gardening projects in the churchyard.
Prior to studying at Capel Manor and becoming a professional gardener, Tim taught English for nearly 20 years at Forest School, his alma mater. Tim is a Board Member for Forest Flora, which supports community horticulture in Waltham Forest, is a Committee Member of Walthamstow’s Chelsea Fringe Festival, helps lead the Hilltop Gardeners’ group and has worked closely with many other local gardening and community groups, including Walthamstow Village in Bloom.
Tim is a member of St Mary’s and is as good with people as he is with plants! We’re very excited to have him take on this important, community-facing role.
