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Marlborough Sports Garden in Southwark is a crucial room for London. Do you want to collect £ 5 million for an inspiring development, why should the city get involved?
Hyacinthe Loyson, a French preacher from the mid -1800s, is described by historians as one of the early users of a phrase that continues to be recited today.
“Good people plant trees the shadow they will never sit under,” he said.
The little passage, which is actually often quoted as an Indian proverb, evokes images of the large forests in England, Sycamore Gap Tree (formerly) and holy planted parks in the capital.
It is a reminder that we as Londoners have a responsibility towards the city where we occupy – both for work and pleasure – and the preservation of our rare green areas.
Just over a hundred years ago, Marlborough Sports Garden, from Bankside Open Spaces Trust, was talented to the people in Southwark by the Duchess of Marlborough, Consuelo Vanderbilt-Balsan, who decided that “surplus land from a crazy area between Borough Street and Red Crough Cush as a recreation site.
Ten decades at Sports Garden are still crucial to the local community south of the river and the city of London just across the river.
It is used by local schools and a community where 91 percent of homes and apartments have no private garden.
City companies also use the area for team building and lunches.
City pearl
But this decisive space, one of the few who remains so close to the city of London, needs a square kilometer shaped boost.
The architects Cullinan Studio has drawn up a plan to rejuvenate Marlborough Sports Garden and add a pavilion and facilities that the area has long been shouting for.
At a cost of at least £ 5 million there is no cheap performance, but it is one in the city should challenge ourselves to help.
Spaces that Marlborough Sports Garden represents an opportunity for the city to give back to the communities that were here long before the skyscrapers and magabuilds on the square mile.
What is £ 5 million to an area in the capital that contributes £ 97 billion in economic production annually? 0.005 percent, to be exact.
Andrea Sullivan, International Managing Director, Head of Social and Environmental Group at Bank of America, says City Am: “We have had the pleasure of collaborating with the Bankside Open Spaces Trust over the past ten years.
“Our teams enjoy the chance to participate and find a small space of green calm in a lively capital has proven to be popular with our employees.”
Added Keystone Law Partner Ed John: “Keystone Law has supported Bankside Open Spaces Trust’s green space and community work through Pro Bono work for many years now.
“There are enormous benefits for our employees’ sense of community engagement and connection to their local environment.”
A simple win for the capital
The point is this: We take our London leisure spaces for granted. We use them when they are practical and miss them when they are gone.
Marlborough Sports Garden does not go anywhere thanks to Consuelo Vanderbilt-Balsan and her foresight.
But the square mile has the opportunity to make a difference, improve the facilities and have a lasting impact on the local community – more influence than a number of ESG initiatives and associated meaningless peacocks still have.
So the next time you enjoy your lunch in one of London’s rare green areas, don’t take it for granted; Places like Marlborough Sports Garden are the capital’s substantial life blood.
And it is on us, business and the wider society to ensure that they thrive, develop and continue to give us small areas with joy in this concrete jungle that we call home.
