Please note: this event has passed
This event is part of our Global Day of Service initiative
Wednesday 27 March 2024
12:00 - 14:30 OR 14:30 - 17:00
Location: Phytology, Bethnal Green Nature Reserve, Middleton Street London E2 9RR
An opportunity to volunteer as part of King’s Global Day of Service
Each year in March, the King's community take part in a range of volunteering activities a s part of King's Global Day of Service. To discover more ways to get involved, visit the King's Global Day of Service hub to view all activities and events.
Volunteer at the Bethnal Green Nature Reserve
Join us for a chance to volunteer at the Bethnal Green Nature Reserve alongside your fellow alumni. This community led research institute runs Phytology - an urban physic garden that provides free food, medicine and learning opportunities for local communities available on a first come first served basis.
You will learn how to support the day-to-day upkeep of the Bethnal Green Nature Reserve, an institute working at the intersection of arts and science, with a specific focus on urban ecologies.
At Bethnal Green Nature Reserve you will:
- Enjoy a short tour of the site, discussing various research projects that are currently taking place such as Phytology, Mobile Apothecary, Mycelium Farm, Wetland Restoration and Urban Mind
- Work on one of the habitats of the Reserve with your fellow alumni
- Learn how to identify and forage a range of medicinal plants commonly found on the streets of London
- Test locally distributed medicines that are produced by the team
- Taste herbal teas, featuring spring time medicinal herbs grown and freshly picked from the Phytology garden
What should I bring with me?
This will take place in an outdoor space, please wear sensible shoes that can get a little muddy and wear weather appropriate clothing to keep warm and dry. The most useful thing to bring is curiosity and sense of adventure.
About the Bethnal Green Nature Reserve
The Reserve houses a newly built mycelium/mushroom farm, home to several species of mushroom grown for ecological benefit and medicinal/nutritional properties. These include Lions Main, Jelly Ears, Chicken of the Woods, Turkey Tails, and Birch Polypore. A long-term aim of the project is to provide food and medicine for our communities while offering learning opportunities amongst residents, school groups and social prescribing networks. We will learn how the newly installed mushroom habitat will contribute towards the long-term ambition of providing alternative learnings supporting healthy social and land-based ecologies.
The founders of BGNR are also working on a King's Funded project - Urban Mind - a research project employing app based technologies to measure individuals experience of the urban environment (mental wellbeing, social, ecological). Urban Mind has been collecting Citizen Science data over the past five years, building valuable evidence designing healthy cities where biodiversity is prioritised within urban planning and investment. Recent Urban Mind article include a study exploring the effects of loneliness and another more recent paper exploring the correlation between bird song and mental wellbeing.
Entrance: Please make your way directly to the gardens using the following address:
Phytology, Bethnal Green Nature Reserve, Middleton Street, London E2 9RR.
[The venue is 2 blocks from the Bethnal Green Tube (Central Line) and one block from Cambridge Heath Overground Station]