By Jenny Duff
The Sunken Garden Eco Fair will take place in September and promises to be a day filled with fun workshops, inspiring talks and eco ideas for all.
With the focus of the day on wildlife, ecology, conservation, gardening in dry conditions and sustainability, there will be workshops and information points by 40 representatives of local and national organisations sharing their important environmental work.
These will include the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, Windmill Community Gardens Margate, Animal and Plant Health Agency, Bumblebee Conservation Trust, Kent’s Plan Bee and Bon Volks Swift Project.
From bike repairs to bee keeping, mushrooms to hops, growing edible plants to identifying bees and much more, there will be plenty to discover and discuss.
The programme of talks will open with David Whitehead and Jack Scott of Quex Farms, sharing their experiences of regenerative farming and providing local healthy food, whilst leaving the environment in a better position than they found it.
This talk will be followed by Nik Mitchell, also known as Get Wild, sharing news of an exciting project in Margate introducing the fastest animal on the planet; Paul Twyman, Head Gardener at Yoakley House, will speak about how he has kept alive the Victorian way of gardening, creating a calm and beautiful space.
Steven Edney of The No Name Nursery will conclude the talks with a discussion on drought tolerant and coastal planting.
Kent Community Foundation Chief Executive Catherine Glover said: “We are delighted to be supporting Sunken Garden’s Eco Fair again this year. This hugely popular event is a highlight in the local calendar and shows the power of communities coming together to care for their environment.
“We’re proud to play a part in supporting this important community initiative.”
The Eco Fair takes place on Sunday 20th September, 11.30am to 4pm at the Sunken Garden, Royal Esplanade, Westbrook.
Information and booking links are available at www.thesunkengarden.co.uk with updates still being added.
If you would like to volunteer at the event, helping with setup / take down, talk marshalling and more, please get in touch via [email protected] – there are benefits, including a free ticket to one of the talks!
The fair is funded and supported by Charles Burnett III Memorial Fund through Kent Community Foundation, Vattenfall, Kent County Council Members Grant from Luke Evans, Margate Rotary and Thanet Academy FM.
