Grace and Flavour

One Sunday morning in the spring of 2008, the congregation of St Mary’s Church, West Horsley, was set a challenge, namely to devise a project that would benefit the whole community.

For Su Johnston, the inspiration came while listening to a radio programme all about a group of people growing their own vegetables. Soon, amid a flurry of fact-finding, the perfect location presented itself and, in a story that could be straight out of a film, the Grace & Flavour community garden was born.

“It was a three-acre, derelict walled garden in the grounds of a nursing home belonging to the National Trust,” says Su. “You couldn’t actually see the walls because it had 30 years worth of fly-tipping, brambles and nettles at head height, but we just knew it was the right place for us. And so the seeds of Grace & Flavour were sown. We could then embark on the complicated process of setting up the project, which included recruiting a steering committee to develop a business plan, fund-raising and seeking out available grants, but we were on our way.