About our community garden
We are a project based around a community garden located in a GP surgery in North London for the staff and patients of the Caversham Group Practice.
Our aim is to work as staff and patients, side by side, with positivity, creativity and imagination towards better health for ourselves, each other and our wider world. Our project and garden are run completely by volunteers; patients, practice staff and others who wish to contribute to our community-building efforts.
The garden and at times, our waiting room, are used for small groups, community celebrations, a place of rest for the staff and as an outdoor consulting room.
Go to the Stories section to see what’s on.
Listen to the From What If to What Next: What if doctors' surgeries became catalysts for Transition? podcast with Rob Hopkins, Dr Michael Dixon and Caversham GP Jane Myat
Our website is here for two groups;
Staff, patients and the community around the Caversham Group Practice
We’d love you to have a look through the website.
Join in by coming along and helping at events and help with maintenance and building of The Listening Space garden.
Find The Caversham Newsletter here!
Members of the public (both GP surgeries’ staff and their patients)
What if we work together to help reimagine future healthcare? You might like to know more about how we set up The Listening Space and our vision on the Grounding Virtues page, as well as the links to other projects that inspire us or with whom we have a bond on our Kinfolk page. If you’d like to see how The Listening Space has been a benefit and help to our staff and patients, have a look at the quotes at the bottom of the page, they speak for themselves.
Dream it
The Listening Space is a project started by the Caversham Group Practice in Kentish Town working with our patients. The project is centred around a patients’ community garden in the central courtyard of our practice. We aim to find paths back to health by bringing local people together in practical ways whether that be through gardening, crafts, walks or a shared love of food.
Build it
We want our garden to be a place where we can feel safe and supported, where we can listen and understand our differences as well as all the things we share as humans.
Grow it
Our hope for the future is to deepen our roots and share the fruits and seeds of our work with others, building relationships with like-minded projects both locally and further afield. We hope too that one day we might have a workshop and kitchen space for learning and skill-building together.
“How lovely it was to see the garden in all its glory. It reflects perfectly the caring nature and philosophy of the Practice so much more that a CQC report ever could!”
“It’s about the magic. It’s a loved and loving garden that I look out on and absorb. It’s so regenerative.”
Staff
“Just knowing it exists and is there for me when I need it eases my anxieties.”
Patient
“I like to sit in the garden. It breaks up the day and feels we are connected to the outside world. It reminds me that things can be more beautiful than in a GP practice.”
Staff
“A wonderful garden to rejuvenate mind, body and soul.”
Patient
“The listening space is such a a bright haven… in my first encounter it uplifted my spirits and gave me faith in the generative powers of nature and my own ability to heal.”
Patient
“It has been a real escape valve for us. Recently, due to Covid, it feels safe to be in it. A privilege to be connected and close to it. I like that it’s a work in progress.”
Staff
“My peaceful, safe space.
Enjoying the plants: identifying some, admiring others, I forget the loneliness.”
Patient
“A peaceful place – a place to take five and fresh air.”
Staff
“The Listening Space is an island of tranquillity within my busy day.”
Staff
“A place for Tranquility and peace of mind”
Patient
“It’s unexpected in an NHS building, somewhere so different and more personal, less corporate.”
Staff
“Taking time to look at the plants in detail helps to put my worries into perspective.”
Patient