Alongside our pollinator training for Hackney Housing grounds staff and community gardeners, ecoACTIVE is proud to be delivering hands-on pollinator training for school children across East London.

Last year, ecoACTIVE was awarded a grant from the John Lewis Partnership Nature Fund to deliver a year-long programme of environmental learning and access-to-nature activities for disadvantaged children and young people in East London. This ambitious programme brings nature into everyday learning through outdoor education and forest school sessions for early years, sustainability education and green skills training for secondary and post-16 students, and the piloting of a brand-new pollinator training programme for primary schools.

This spring, Hackney’s housing estates are becoming outdoor classrooms.

Hackney Council has commissioned ecoACTIVE, in partnership with GrowN22, to deliver an advanced nature recovery training programme for 36 Hackney Housing grounds staff. The programme focuses on practical, evidence-based approaches to restoring nature in urban environments—specifically within the realities of housing estate grounds management.

Join ecoACTIVE and Core Landscapes for hands‑on gardening workshops in Hackney. Learn pruning, plant propagation, and drought‑resilient gardening skills in community green spaces.

Over the past year, ecoACTIVE has worked with schools, community groups, residents’ organisations and local partners across Hackney and beyond. Together, we’ve delivered hands-on, nature-based projects that improve wellbeing, strengthen communities and boost biodiversity.

We’re delighted to announce a brand-new phase for ecoACTIVE’s Community Garden Network, made possible through an exciting grant from the Bupa Foundation!

Over the next year, we’ll be boosting the skills, confidence and leadership of volunteers across our network through a special programme of 10 expert-led training events. These sessions will be hosted by community gardens themselves, creating fantastic opportunities for learning and for celebrating the brilliant green spaces already flourishing across our neighbourhoods.

Wishing you all a very Happy New Year and all the best for 2025! Hoping that the frosts will be good for our gardens. See below for news about how to join us on a trip to Kew Gardens, a funding opportunity from Grow Wild, and Traineeships at Growing Communities. Read our latest Newsletter for news and seasonal tips from your Network. We would be really grateful if you could complete our Survey to let us know more about what you have been doing and what you'd like to see happen next.