THE Parish of St Anselm, Kennington, in
Southwark diocese, celebrated its Harvest Festival
together with the opening of its own market garden. Unlovely
garages at the rear of the church had been demolished, and the area
had been transformed with raised beds and planters, largely thanks
to a hundred volunteers from the London advertising agency AMV
(above).
"It's wonderful to see the project come to life," the Team
Rector, the Revd Angus Aagaard, says. "The planters and raised beds
have given the church a much needed face lift, and brought some
colour and love to our little corner of south London. We are very
grateful to AMV for nominating us as their charity of the year and
donating £30,000 to get the market garden up and running."
Within days of its being completed, the National Fruit Show
descended on St Anselm's, bringing with it 17,500 apples and pears.
The Fruit Show formed the backbone of a four-day Country Life
Festival, and the sweet aroma of cooked apples hung over Kennington
as cafés and restaurants in the neighbourhood produced an array of
dishes made with Bramley apples.
There was a talk and demonstration of flower-arranging on the
first day; the church was overrun with scarecrows on the second;
the Fruit Show and scarecrow-judging was on the third; and the St
Anselm's Harvest Festival Service was held on the concluding
Sunday. All the remaining fruit was distributed to charities and
community groups. Some of it even found its way into the kitchens
of Lambeth Palace.
