St leonards Church, Shoreditch

Since Autumn we've been working with the New Hanbury Project to transform the entrance to one of London's historic church's, St. Leonard's in Shoreditch.

In all honesty it's been a bit slow moving, as projects involving listed buildings tend to be. The scheme started as a response to English Heritage demanding that the church urgently change the layout of the front to something more 'authentic'. Their concerns centre around four (nearly) symmetrical raised borders that were hastily built to disguise bomb damage from the Second World War. Just as we were starting the concept stage even more bureaucracy was to emerge. Reconstruction work on the front gates unearthed unmarked graves - immediately the Home Office put a halt to any landscaping plans.

So for now we're volunteering our time to design and seek funding for an alternative that pleases the Home Office and English Heritage, aesthetically lasts the lifetime of the Church, whilst also provides opportunities for continued involvement with the New Hanbury Project.

In the meantime we've donated 92 Miscanthus sinensis 'Abundance' to create four solid blocks of fountain like grass in the raised borders, that we hope will provide a foil to the church's enormous pillars. We've also provided thousands of bulbs to provide interest from winter though to summer. All the planting has been completed by the New Hanbury Project's team of volunteers that look after the considerable gardens around the church.

The Hanbury Project is a centre for personal development that helps people recovering from homelessness, addiction, mental health problems, learning difficulties, and long-term unemployment. They build up their self-confidence through useful and practical life skills, become involved in voluntary work and go on training courses in order to gain employment opportunities.