The fire at Sunnyside Community Gardens
A COMMUNITY garden has been damaged by a fire which destroyed part of its building, writes Isabel Loubser.
Flames engulfed the toilet block at Sunnyside Community Garden near the Elthorne estate on Friday night.
Garden manager Anna Portch said: “We don’t know what happened. A lit plastic bag ended up under the building.
We don’t know whether it was an accident or vandalism, but it went up in flames. We’re very grateful to whoever phoned the fire brigade.”
She added: “When it happened, I was really upset. It’s shocking to see it. It just feels like a kick in the teeth because at the moment the garden is looking so beautiful. It looks glorious, so it is disappointing.”
The building has previously burnt down twice and the Polytunnel – which housed plants and vegetables – was the subject of an attack by vandals several years ago.
Ms Portch told the Tribune: “We’re open access, so people can come in every day. People are in there 24/7 so they can just enjoy it like their back garden. In the evenings, it’s fine if people want to come and look at the stars.”
Asked whether the incident had made her think about limiting access to the garden, Ms Portch said: “Sometimes I think about it, but so much of it is just people loving it and looking after it and I wouldn’t want to change that. We would never do that because it’s so important for everyone who doesn’t have a garden.”
The toilet block hit by fire and, below, volunteers help clear up
The garden is currently tended by more than 200 volunteers who run the plant sale, and cook for each other, as well as doing weeding and planting.
They found themselves also doing some maintenance and DIY, as they arrived on Saturday to help clean up the damage caused by the fire.
Ms Portch said the incident highlighted how desperately more funds were needed so that the community could have a fully accessible volunteer building that isn’t made of wood.
They have been raising funds for the project already, and hope to hit their target of £10,000 in donations.
Ms Portch said: “The whole new centre would be £365,000, but we’re going to apply to trusts and foundations for the rest. It’s helpful to have donations because that shows there’s community support, it shows the trusts and foundations that people really care about this project, and that might help us get the funding.”
A spokesperson for the London Fire Brigade said: “The brigade was first called about the fire at 21.54, and the incident was over for crews by 22.33.”