Build a garden in a week. That is the challenge facing students from Larkin Community College in Dublin’s North Inner City as they partner others in developing a Garden of Hope for the Simon Community.
The students have joined with the U.S. Embassy in Dublin and Localise, an NGO working at empowering young people, in a partnership with the renowned Irish gardener Diarmuid Gavin and his creative team. Working with the Simon Community, their shared vision is to create over one intense week of work, from April 27th to May 4th , an urban garden at the Simon Shelter on Sean Mac Dermott Street for the residents there who otherwise would be homeless.
This garden will provide a touch of green and colour to an otherwise grey space, a joyful space where people in difficulty can seek solace and find peace. The design is the inspiration of a wonderfully talented group of Larkin students and the vision of Diarmuid Gavin. With the support of the public, corporate and commercial enterprises, it is planned to build a new inner city garden in seven days.
The students at Larkin Community College, through Localise, focus each year as part of their Civic Studies, on giving back to their community. This year, they hope that through this appeal and their hard work, the residents of the Simon Shelter will be able to wake up in the morning to view the splendour of an urban garden.
As part of the planned Urban Garden, there will be a spire that soars to the sky. Something that everyone in the Shelter and the community can recognize as a symbol of Dublin’s strength, its aspirations, and something that points to a better future.
Further information is available at www.localise.ie