Hollington’s hidden Garden of Eden

Deep within a Southern Housing estate in Hollington, there is a hidden Garden of Eden. It’s not easy to find, but once you do there is a warm welcome from Craig, Trevor and the volunteer team, as Dee Williams found.

Craig and his team started the Hidden Eden project two years ago. Previously a playground, the site had been closed up and allowed to become derelict and overgrown. Once Craig and his team had permission to use the space they set about clearing out the weeds ready for a garden and community project.  

Many volunteers have lent a hand, but a hardy team continues to invest time and energy into the project which currently consists of vegetable growing beds, a memorial garden, a play area, BBQ and even their own portable toilet.

Craig was driven to pursue the project when he realised that community and outdoor activities were a vital part of restoring his own mental health following a trauma that left him with PTSD. Many of the volunteers have also used the experience to overcome personal trauma as Craig has been keen to set up a ‘healing’ environment.

The garden is open to local residents who are given a passcode so that they can have free access. Other visitors take part in the many activities on offer, which help to finance the group, such as balm making, making bug sprays, growing from recycled roots, soap making and breath-work classes.  

The project is there to help those with mental or physical problems by creating a safe, listening environment where people can open up among their peers.

To this end, Craigs Cabin teamed up with Social Prescriber Services. The project has been shortlisted for a number of community awards and this year won the Prestige Awards for Service Excellence – East Sussex in the London and South East England area. 

If you are interested in visiting this little bit of Eden, you can drop by on a Monday between 10:00 and 12:00, or join them for one of their regular Friday walks. There are also regular foraging walks suitable for all the family and community litter-picking events. Craig also runs specific men’s walks in the evening of the first and last Sunday of every month in recognition of the need for male-to-male support systems as demonstrated by ONS suicide data. 

The male suicide rate was 16.1 per 100,000, compared to a female suicide rate of 5.3 per 100,000. 

All the information you need is on their website or look out for updates on their Facebook page. 

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