Last week we ticked off another exciting milestone for the project - welcoming a new member of staff onto the team. Julia Forrester has joined us as Community Coordinator for the Railway Gardens project, we could not be happier to be growing the Green Squirrel crew and expanding what Railway Gardens can offer. Here's Julia to introduce herself in her own words...
I am so excited to have started my new role with Railway Gardens as their Community Coordinator. When I moved to Splott nearly 20 years ago, I was immediately enchanted by the strong community spirit. There is a beautiful mix of families who have been here for generations, alongside newer residents who are embracing the cosmopolitan feel of the area. It is certainly going to be a privilege to work in this amazing community that I know and love so well.
I have eagerly watched the growth of the Railway Gardens Project over the last 6 years and am thrilled to now be a part of something so special that is only going to enrich this community further.
My working life started as a support worker for BAME women, but along the way I have held many roles in both the Private and Charity sectors, including Volunteer, Team Manager, Board Member, Volunteer Coordinator and most recently Retail and Fundraising Coordinator. I’m looking forward to bringing all of my experience and enthusiasm to the Railway Gardens Project. The opportunity to help create a space that will foster sustainability and creativity is awesome!
My first week has been an incredible whirlwind, with the lovely Hannah and Becca catching me up on the long journey to get to this point, along with all their hopes and dreams now that their tenacity with the support of you all, our wonderful community, has won through.
Over the coming months, whilst the building work is progressing on site, I am very much looking forward to meeting with and hearing from as many of you as possible to ensure we continue to shape this remarkable project into what our community needs. So please start thinking of what mini-projects, courses or classes you would love to see at Railway Gardens and get in touch – Dream Big and I can’t wait to hear from you all.
As you may have seen, the project build is now underway, and over the coming months we’ll be chatting with as many people in the community as possible to begin planning a programme of activities and events to begin on-site from summer 2022. If you have an idea for a project, group, activity or event that you would like to hold at Railway Gardens, or suggestions for the kind of things you’d like to see offered, please do drop us an email. Or if you’d simply like to find out more about the project then we’d love to arrange a chat. You can contact Julia on julia@greensquirrel.co.uk.
