The winner of the Good Neighbour category at the recent Barnet Group’s Community Awards was Geraldine Haran.
Geraldine is a Barnet resident who loves to volunteer as a communal gardener for her small block in north Finchley and at her local church. She also likes to teach young residents how to grow vegetables. She tells us a little bit about her communal gardening activities.
“In 2012 I moved from West London to Finchley in Barnet through the home swap scheme. Back then I didn’t know any of my neighbours, and because I love gardening, I thought I’d get involved in starting the residents’ community garden. It was a nice space but a little overgrown. Once we began gardening, residents started to come out to enjoy it, to help out or just to have a chat. It’s now used a lot more by people, especially families with young children. We even do a communal barbecue every summer!
“In my spare time I go to the local allotment and sometimes take my neighbour’s children with me and I teach them how to grow vegetables. Outdoors I grow potatoes, beans, carrots, garlic and onions and in my greenhouse I grow aubergines and chillies. I really like to share the produce with my neighbours.
“I also volunteer to do the weeding and watering of plants at my local Church garden in Finchley.”
Geraldine’s next door neighbour of 10 years, Marielle, told us why she nominated her for the Good Neighbour category, “Geraldine is very selfless, she’s always thinking about other people, and she’s always offering to help her neighbours. We appreciate her kindness and ability to get neighbours together in the garden, particularly during Covid – which was great for our mental health.”