Bridge Street Garden Banbury

27/08/2026

🌧️🌿 It rained… and then it rained some more! But it didn’t stop us from getting together at the Community Garden.

We harvested elderberries and made a second batch of elderberry syrup as a few people who couldn’t make it last Sunday had really wanted to have a go.

We simmered the elderberries with a little water, cloves, ginger and cinnamon for around 30 minutes, then strained everything through cheesecloth to squeeze out all that beautiful deep purple juice. We bottled it up into small bottles for everyone to take home, ready to sweeten to taste with sugar, agave or maple syrup and dilute with water for a warming seasonal drink.

We also made mobiles, collected perpetual spinach and marigold seeds and planted some in little pots to take home as well as around the garden. We planted some coriander too, which should hopefully grow over the next few weeks. 🌱

Halfway through the session, the sun even decided to make an appearance ☀️ and we spotted a wood pigeon busily collecting twigs to build a nest.

Thank you so much to everyone who came along. It was actually quite lovely to enjoy the rain together and after such a dry summer, the garden was definitely grateful for it! 💚🌧️

Another lovely Thriving in Nature session in collaboration with Sunrise Multicultural Project 🌼
Photos by Naseem and Tila

26/08/2026

Come and join us at the community garden tomorrow, Thursday 27th, for an afternoon of gardening and art 🌿🎨

This is a community event in collaboration with Sunrise Multicultural Project. Everyone is welcome, come along, get involved and enjoy some time in the garden with us 💚

26/08/2026

A few photos taken recently at the community garden 🌿

A huge thank you to Simon, Julie, Michael, Jack, Alex, Lynne, Louise and Rachel for all your volunteering, involvement and support. It’s very much appreciated 💚

24/08/2026

Thank you so much Sunrise Multicultural Project for the wonderful collaboration. It’s amazing to think we’ve now done 12 of these events together! 💚 It was so special to have visitors from Oxfordshire African Caribbean
Multicultural Association and Community Action Groups - CAG Oxfordshireshire with us yesterday too. And as always brilliant reel, Anila
Thank you 🌿✨ Brilliant interviews with Julie, Natasha, Marta, Alex, Janice ✨💚🌿
And a huge thank you to Zainab, Simon, Rachel, Julie, Alex and everyone else who stayed to water the garden after the event. It was incredibly helpful and very much appreciated 💧🩵

21/08/2026

August is coming to an end and the community garden is starting to show the changing season. Dried leaves and seed heads are appearing among flowers that are still blooming and the recent heatwave has left everything looking drier and a little more weathered than usual.

It brings to mind the Japanese idea of wabi-sabi: appreciating simplicity, imperfection and the way things naturally change over time. There can be beauty in things that are faded, weathered or beginning to decay, just as there is beauty in new growth.

Gardens aren’t only about things growing and blooming. Dying back and decay are part of the cycle too.

A few photos from the garden today, with that in mind 🌾🍂

20/08/2026

Looking forward to it 😃

🌿✨ Our 12th Thriving in Nature Session! ✨🌿

Join us this Sunday 23rd August, 2–4pm, at Bridge Street Community Garden for another wonderful afternoon of creativity, nature and connection. 🌱💚

This marks our 12th Thriving in Nature session, and we have some lovely activities planned!

🍃 Create your own nature mobile using beautiful natural materials to make something special to take home.

🫐 Make elderberry syrup together using freshly harvested elderberries and warming spices and everyone who joins us will be able to take home a small bottle of our homemade syrup too!

Elderberries are naturally rich in antioxidants and vitamin C. Elderberry syrups and cordials have traditionally been made in late summer and early autumn, when the berries are ripe, and have long been enjoyed as a seasonal drink and traditional home remedy during the colder months. 🍂

🌱 Everything we make will be completely plant-based.

Come along, get creative, learn something new, enjoy the garden and spend some quality time together in nature. Whether you’ve joined us before or it’s your first session, everyone is welcome! ☺️🌻

📅 Sunday 23rd August
⏰ 2–4pm
📍 Bridge Street Community Garden

💚 12 sessions of connecting people, creativity and the natural world and we’d love you to be part of the next one!

18/08/2026

🎨 Yesterday, Milly facilitated a lovely session with Sunrise Multicultural Project Monday Women’s group, mindfully creating beautiful flower prints using a range of vegetables and paint.

Celery, bok choy and lettuce roots were especially brilliant for creating rose-like prints, alongside a selection of other vegetables that inspired the group to experiment and create some wonderful artworks🌹🥬

It’s quite amazing what a few kitchen scraps and a bit of paint can create! A lovely opportunity to experiment, get creative and spend time together.

Another great collaboration between Sunrise Multicultural Project and Bridge Street Community Garden 🥦🫑🥬

17/08/2026

🍉💥🪾💃🏻🕺🏻🌿 thank you so much Sunrise Multicultural Project, Anila, James, Shabnam, Yuxin, Julie, Zainab, Yasmeen, Rachel, Tila and everyone else involved today Bridge Street Garden 🪴

17/08/2026

Creative time at Bridge St Garden today 🌿
We made little characters out of elder branches, painted with crushed fresh elderberries and watercolours, made bracelets, decorated the patio with chalk, helped water the Garden and had plenty of time to chat and enjoy some refreshments together 🍉🪾💃🏻🕺🏻
A huge thank you to Anila, Shabnam, Zainab, Julie, Yuxin, James, Tila and everyone else who brought such lovely creative energy to the afternoon.
This session was a collaboration between Sunrise Multicultural Project and Bridge Street Garden 🌻 We can’t wait to see Anila’s reel but in the meantime, here are a few photos from today 📸✨

13/08/2026

🌿☺️

🌿✨ THRIVING IN NATURE – FREE WORKSHOP! ✨🌿

Join Sunrise Multicultural Project for another wonderful Thriving in Nature session at Bridge Street Community Garden! 🌱💚 this will be our 11th thriving in nature workshop.

This time we’ll be getting creative with nature, creating art using elder branches and natural materials. 🌳🎨

A relaxed, hands-on activity for all ages to enjoy and no previous experience is needed!

📅 Monday 17th August
⏰ 2pm – 4pm
📍 Bridge Street Community Garden, OX16 5QF

🌿 All materials provided
☕ Refreshments available
💚 Everyone is welcome, just turn up!
👨‍👩‍👧 Children are very welcome when accompanied by an adult

Our Thriving in Nature sessions are all about bringing people together, connecting with the outdoors, getting creative and enjoying the wellbeing benefits of spending time in nature. 🌻

A huge thank you to Oxfordshire Community Foundation for supporting our Thriving in Nature programme, and to Bridge Street Community Garden for welcoming us into their beautiful community space. 💚

Come along, get creative and enjoy an afternoon in nature with us! 🌿✨