Looking back at a brilliant year... and ahead to an even more exciting one

Happy New Year, everyone! 2024 was a dynamic year for all of us at Chiswick House & Gardens Trust, packed with changes, creativity, and a sense of moving forwards with some important new projects. As the Trust’s Director, I am moved and proud to share below some of the amazing things we achieved in 2024. I’d also like to kick off the new year with a massive thank you to our generous community of supporters, funders and volunteers. We couldn’t have made 2024 such a success without you – and we look forward to keeping you up to date with everything we know you will help us to achieve in 2025!?

Looking back: working with our local?community

In 2024 we cemented our commitment to our local Hounslow community and our ongoing connection with the London-based groups and charities we work with, welcoming over 3,300 participants and over 50 groups to our gardens and piloting our developing Schools Programme. Across the course of the year, visiting groups and schoolchildren took part in an array of gardening, cookery, healthy eating and art-based projects, designed to boost wellbeing and tackle some of the challenges we face in our borough, including isolation, loneliness and disconnection from nature.?

Just a few of many, many 2024 highlights included working with local groups Deaf Women Ealing and The Masbro Elders to?cultivate climate change-resistant Heritage Grains in the Kitchen Garden, hosting Hounslow Council's monthly Veterans’ Café, enabling residents who served in the Armed Forces to come together in the beautiful Kitchen Garden, and completing year 3 of the Black Chiswick through History Project, during which we worked with local young people to draw out the stories that connect us to Black history.

Looking back: Our commitment to conservation

Our ambitious woodland regeneration 'Letting the light in' project kicked off in late summer/early autumn, funded by the Mayor of London's Rewild London initiative – and we’re now at the stage where we can see tangible progress, with invasive species and overgrown areas cleared in a way that will boost biodiversity and help our native birds, bats and invertebrates thrive.

Looking back at the Kitchen Garden

Making entry to our Kitchen Garden free?– a permanent move on our part! Don't forget to visit later this year, when the Kitchen Garden reopens on April 3rd.

We also witnessed the construction of artist Ayesha Weekes’ stunning long table, made with reclaimed logs and wood from the Chiswick House woodlands, and funded via Arts Council England. The table, completed in August, now has a lasting?home in the Kitchen Garden.

Just as welcome was knowing that over 600 people were able to enjoy artist Jaixia Blue’s ‘Flower Feast’ nature trail after it launched in July, using the trail to connect with the flowers and insects that make the garden their home.

And finally, I’m delighted to say that we donated more than half of the garden's sustainably-grown vegetables, fruit and flowers?to local charities Shelter Community, The Upper Room and Nourish Hub, throughout the year.

Looking ahead to 2025: A new Community and Creative Campus

In December we secured the funds to start work on?the Creative Campus, a collection of artist studios in underused historic buildings around the Kitchen Garden and the first stage in the creation of?our planned?Community and Creative Campus.?

Keep an eye out for more on this next month, when we begin our shout out for artist makers and start to see the new studios take shape…

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