The Peter Pan pocket park community garden. (Picture: Phoenix Community Housing)

Residents and visitors to south Lewisham have a new green space for relaxation and play following the opening of a new pocket park for the area.

Peter Pan’s Park was developed by Phoenix Community Housing, with school children and soldiers also volunteering their help. 

Soldiers from Catford’s 221 Field Regiment gave two days of their time to clear the site in May, along with schoolchildren who helped to plant the new flowerbeds and wildflower garden under the expert guidance of Chris Collins, former Blue Peter gardener.

Phoenix Chief Executive, Jim Ripley said: “We were delighted to receive funding for this important project and are very proud to welcome people to Peter Pan’s Park. Much of the project’s success is owed to the residents, groups and volunteers that gave so much of their time to deliver a new green space for the whole of the local community.”

The green space marks an achievement in Phoenix’s quest to revitalise the Downham, Whitefoot and Bellingham wards of south Lewisham where it owns and manages 6,300 homes.

Linsday Mearman, 37, mother of one of the volunteering schoolchildren commented: “I’m very proud of my son for taking part in this wonderful activity in order to enrich the area. I can only hope that more projects like this will take place in order to strengthen our sense of community.”

The previously neglected patch of land by the Ravensbourne River near Bromley Road was formally opened on September 30 by Mayor of Lewisham Sir Steve Bullock, before guests enjoyed refreshments and a tour of the new retreat.