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Bankside Open Spaces Trust

@bostse1

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We're an award-winning environmental and volunteering charity in SE1. We transform spaces and lives. Join events, volunteering and more.
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🏃🏽‍♀️ FREE AFTERSCHOOL SPORTS IS BACK THIS AUTUMN! 🍂

Looking for something fun and active for your child after school?

Our free Afterschool Sports programme returns to Marlborough Sports Garden from Tuesday 8 September to Thursday 15 October, with a different mix of activities every Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday.

🔵 TUESDAYS | 3:45–5:15pm
> ⚽ Futsal | ages 8–11 | Ballers Academy
> ⚽ Girls' Football | ages 6–11 | Girls United | Girls Only
> 💃 Street Dance | ages 6–11 | Cruz Sports

🔴 WEDNESDAYS | 3:45–5:15pm
> 🎾 Beach Tennis | ages 5–11 | Deuce Beach Tennis
> 🥊 Movement & Athleticism | ages 6–11 | Bogus Boxing
> ⚽ Football | ages 5–11 | Samba Soccer Schools

🟡 THURSDAYS | 3:45–5:15pm
> 🏐 Beach Volleyball | ages 5–11 | SideOut
> 🏀 Basketball | ages 6–11 | Rise3x3
> 🏏 Cricket | ages 6–11 | Surrey Cricket Foundation

💚 Every session is FREE, and Monday and Friday remain FREE PLAY days - no booking required.

📍 Marlborough Sports Garden, 27 Union Street, SE1 1SD

⚠️ PRE-BOOKING IS ESSENTIAL for all organised sports sessions.

👉🏽 Book your child's place via [LINK IN BIO: FREE Afterschool Sports] or visit bost.org.uk/afterschoolsports

📚 MARLBOROUGH STORY HOUSE

And there’s more!

On Tuesdays and Thursdays, 3:15–4:15pm, Marlborough Story House will be open for parents and children to browse and take away free books, with advice and support from HarperCollins volunteers.

So whether your child wants to get active, discover a new sport, dance, play football, or simply find a great book, there’s something for them this autumn. 💚📚

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Thank you partners for making this programme possible:
@ballersacademy
@bogusboxing
@cruzsportscoaching
@deucebeachtennis
@girlsunitedfa
@harpercollins
@harpercollinsUK
@rise3x3
@sambasoccer_uk
@sideout_uk
@SouthwarkCouncil
@surreycricketfd taken in Union Street, London by @bostse1

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22 days ago

Garden open day.

This Sunday 12-4

Elderberry cordial.
Sausage rolls with allotment rosemary
Dried lavender bunches - every bedroom should have one.

Raising money for Rockingham planting.
Falmouth Rd Allotment taken in Rockingham Estate, Southwark by @bostse1

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6 days ago

Our lead photographer @lenarobinsonkg recently visited Red Cross Garden at @bostse1 to meet up with the lovely @lexi_floral_fanatic for a proper catch-up.

This was meant to be lunch. But put Lena in any garden, beside a biodiverse pond with a camera in her bag and we all know how that ends 📸🤳🤭

We already knew the garden through Lena’s work with @london_nationalgardenscheme but this urban open garden space always offers something new to notice.

Created in 1886 by social reformer and @nationaltrust co-founder Octavia Hill, Red Cross Garden formed part of a much bigger idea, that decent housing, meaningful work and access to nature belonged together.

@bostse1 restored the garden to its original Victorian layout in 2005, and an extraordinary amount still happens within this small space.

Around the pond, Verbena bonariensis floated above globe thistles, reeds and grasses. The South American verbena belongs to the Verbenaceae family, while every globe of Echinops contains many tiny flowers from the daisy family.

Those reeds, grasses, stems and seedheads are doing more than looking beautiful. They provide food, shelter and resting places for insects and other wildlife.

Elsewhere, pink-and-green panicled hydrangeas were changing colour as their showy sepals aged. A Japanese pittosporum added evergreen structure, while fragrant hops, Humulus lupulus, scrambled along the railings. Hops belong to the Cannabaceae family and contain the aromatic lupulin glands behind their distinctive scent and long association with brewing.

The garden’s story of education continues through @bostse1 Future Gardeners programme, supported by the @nationalgardenscheme which helps people gain practical horticultural skills and qualifications.

A little lunch. A little learning. Quite a lot of chatting. And one small garden still giving people somewhere to meet, breathe, notice and grow.

We highly recommend you check it out if you get the chance.

Photography Credit: Raw Photography of @ftsq_go_on
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#Floralishus
#floralishusdaysout
#redcrossgarden
#BanksideOpenSpacesTrust
#NationalGardenScheme taken in Red Cross Garden by @bostse1

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9 days ago

Walk the Labyrinth Day at Crossbones Graveyard, presented by Friends of Crossbones

🗓️ Today, 19th September 2026, 11:00am – 4:00pm
📍 Crossbones Graveyard and Garden of Remembrance, London SE1
🎟️ Free (Open to all, drop-in)

Used for millennia as a teaching tool, the Labyrinth guides the walker in a winding, cursive path from the outer entrance to the centre, to rest there and to return to the outside. It has been used by many different spiritual lineages but its teachings are not confined to a particular practice. Rather, acting as a mirror to each individual walker, it tells us direct things about ourselves and our relationship with what's outside us.

From the first step on the Labyrinth path, the traveller finds there is no decisions to be made, giving the "leading, logical" part of the brain to take a rest and the "receptive, imaginal" part to flourish in the journey. The Crossbones Walk the Labyrinth Day offers free and open, welcome to all from 11am - 4pm on Saturday 19th September 2026, both to walk the Labyrinth and a place to rest, contemplate and express impressions.

The Labyrinth is laid out on Crossbones holy ground, a peaceful, healing and grounding for each walker. There will be short guided talks for those who wish to partake in a place set by with all sorts of art tools for responses and a teaching corner to learn how to draw your own Labyrinth.

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#labyrinth #Southwark #CrossbonesGraveyard
#Crossbones taken in Crossbones Graveyard by @bostse1

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12 days ago

Our newest early careers cohort in London recently spent the afternoon volunteering with Bankside Open Spaces Trust - @bostse1, helping care for the historic Red Cross Garden in Southwark.

From weeding and planting to general garden maintenance, their efforts will help ensure this much-loved green space can continue to be enjoyed by local people for years to come. 🌱

Bankside Open Spaces Trust is an environmental charity working to provide outstanding green spaces and outdoor activities that enhance the health and well-being of urban communities

Giving back to the communities where we live and work is an important part of who we are, thank you to all our business and legal operations graduates, apprentices and trainees for getting involved!

#SocialImpact #Sustainability #EarlyCareers #LifeAtNortonRoseFulbright by @bostse1

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15 days ago

Book NOW for Saturday Socials Girls Club starting 5th September for 10 weeks.

⏱️ 9.30am-2pm
🎟️ Limited spaces available, book at the Linktr.ee in bio 'FREE Girls Club'
📍 Living Space - Waterloo, 1 Coral Street SE1

Want to feel more confident walking to and from school?

Learn self defense with Natalia a 3rd Dan Black Belt! Followed by activities with Lerato's Sister Talk (decided by you like crafts, campaigning, baking) to build self esteem and navigate life!

Lunch included.

100% of participants reported that they either loved or enjoyed the programme and this is what they learnt:
"To know you are worth it."
"How to be more confident."
"To defend myself and new techniques."

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With thanks to @tnlcommunityfund for funding the programme and to facilitators @leratocic and @graciebarra.

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#Banksideopenspacestrust #waterloo #girlsclub A poster advertising Saturday Socials. visit this link to book a session on Saturday including Self defence or sister talk with lerato: https://tinyurl.com/Saturdaygirlsclub taken in Living Space by @bostse1

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a month ago

Crossbones garden of remembrance- graveyard to the 'outcasts'.
The skull, made from pennies, is a recreation of a genuine skull that had belonged 16 year old found buried in the forgotten burial plot for outcasts. This poor girl had third-stage syphilis, meaning she'd been infected for at least 6 years.
Crossbones truly is a hidden beauty, a tiny garden with lovely sitting spots, a little passage, a small pond, and a lot of hand crafted memorial pieces made especially or kindly donated to remember those long gone.
God help the outcasts ❤️
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Visiting is free. Its also free to tie a ribbon to the gate. But if you can spare a pound, please do.
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@bostse1
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#crossbonesgraveyard #history #londonhistory #placestovisitinlondon #graveyard taken in Crossbones Graveyard by @bostse1

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a month ago

📣A FREE Southwark Singalong for every generation! Bring your family, meet your neighbours or simply come along and enjoy the music 🎹

We’re delighted to present this FREE intergenerational event in Mint Street Park in #southwark next Friday. We’re inviting local seniors and lots of families to come and enjoy the music together, chat and enjoy a free cuppa tea and a biscuit from @terryscafelondon

This is kindly funded by @southwarkcouncil and the fantastic @tomcarradine and his assistant are performing at 11am and 2pm on the stage area.

We love #intergenerational sessions like this - see you there?

Share with a friend who’d like a knees up with you 🎶 taken in Southwark by @bostse1

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a month ago

Did you miss our Open Garden Day? Pop along, say hello and see our hidden London oasis this Sunday, 23rd August.

Ally and myself will be in the Allotment Garden, Falmouth Rd, 12-4pm.

@ally.d.6

We’ll be selling dried flowers, plants, a Rockingham calendar and refreshments - raising money for more biodiversity planting on the estate this autumn.

🐘 🌱

#communitygarden
#urbangreening
#london
#elephantandcastle taken in Rockingham Estate, Southwark by @bostse1

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a month ago

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2 months ago

Upgrade your workspace and transform your community!

Two offices are available to hire, which directly funds our green spaces and local charity projects at Bankside Open Spaces Trust.

This is where your rent does good!

Email livingspace@bost.org.uk for more information or to see them.

Office Details: Two rooms ready for your team. Direct social impact on local parks and community programs. Prime location in SE1 Waterloo with great local amenities

Get in Touch
Email: livingspace@bost.org.uk
Website: www.bost.org.uk/living-space by @bostse1

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2 months ago

Want to keep the heart of Waterloo thriving? Grab your tools and join the squad! 🛠️💥

Living Space is a bustling community centre, playground, and sports pitch right at the core of our neighborhood.

We are officially on the hunt for energetic Repair Rangers to help us keep this vital space safe, clean, and beautiful for local families

If you love being active, getting your hands dirty, and seeing the immediate impact of your work, this is for you.🌱

What you’ll be doing:
Light maintenance, gardening, painting, jet-washing the playground, and keeping the vibe fresh.🙌

The Reward: Knowing you are directly creating a safe, vibrant space for local kids and families to play and connect.

🔗 Ready to become a Ranger? Head to the link in our bio at www.bost.org.uk/volunteer to check out the role description and apply, or drop us an email at volunteer@bost.org.uk! [LINK IN BIO] taken in Living Space by @bostse1

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2 months ago