Outdoor Activities

Gardening is one of the few resident activities that we have managed to maintain during the COVID-19 crisis. We are meeting in the garden on Tuesday mornings at 10am to plan and plant and to enjoy the space at a safe social distance.

Last spring the residents of YMCA North London started to work on the garden area at the back of the hostel which had been used to store building materials during the gym restoration. Thanks to a lot of hard work, we now have an established garden with fruit trees, shrubs, climbing plants and raised beds for vegetables. This spring we are continuing to expand the garden area to include some raised beds outside the kitchen and the garden that runs alongside Roseberry Gardens behind the hostel. We are all feeling pretty proud.

The YMCA North London Housing Support Team is sourcing equipment for the garden area so that residents can keep fit and alleviate the frustration of being in the COVID-19 shutdown.

We have ordered an outdoor table-tennis table – now arrived! – a boxing punch-bag and a basketball net, all to be used with due care to disinfecting and safe distances. Thanks to everyone for respecting the guidelines for social distancing and taking it in turns to play with a  winner-stays-on system for the table-tennis.

Residents, talk to us if you have ideas for other activities!

To our local community, we’d love your help if you have more items to donate. Get in touch with lucy.brotherston@ymcanorthlondon.org.uk. A big thank you for donations we’ve already received which are being shared with our residents.

Find out more about our Give a Little, Help a Lot campaign.