Climate Change is a huge risk to the city. Evidence of it is becoming increasingly commo, with intense weather events leading to drought and flooding in the Wandle Valley.
London Wildlife Trust delivered the Wandle Rain Gardens project between October 2016 – January 2018, building on the succes of their Lost Effra project.
Wandle Rain Gardens aimed to empower local communities and teach them how to create green features that retain rainwater, known as Sustainable Urban Drainage Systems (SUDS) – improving resilience to both flooding and drought!
A variety of SUDS were installed at Kirton Lodge in Wandsworth, South Mitcham Community Centre and Deen City Farm in Merton.
The team worked with residents, volunteers and members of the public to create a number of rain gardens planted with drought/flood tolerant species, plant green roofs, build soak-aways and install water-butts to harvest rain from rooftops.
Five community workshops were delivered throughout 2017 to raise awareness of water issues. The team also attended Carshalton Eco-Fair, The Riverside Centre Community Day and worked with Sustainable Merton’s Climate Change Champions to offer advice to the public on creating their own rain gardens.
An easy-to-read, information booklet called Living With Rainwater has been created to give you all the information you need to begin your own water saving projects at home!
Living With Rainwater Guide
A film was also produced to celebrate the project, and explain what Rain Gardens are and how they work:
This project was part of the wider Living Wandle Landscape Partnership Scheme, funded by the National Lottery through the Heritage Lottery Fund.
