How Well Do We Know People in our Community? Jane Riddiford. A local girl comes home.

Lyle Griffiths

Memories of the Wairarapa are part of Jane’s childhood, firstly visiting her grandparents at Longwood, then moving to Martinborough to live at Ruamāhanga Farm.  High school years were spent as a weekly boarder at Erskine College and then on to University and travel.  

An interest in the power of community was sparked early, through participation in an outdoor theatre event, produced by “Welfare State,” from the UK. The interactive performance took place along a mile of Kapiti coastline, highlighting the plight of whales. “I realised then that the connection between land, storytelling and community involvement was a potent combination.” says Jane.

After travelling overseas for several years, she returned to NZ and in the 1990’s did a Sustainable Land Management Diploma at Unitec.  My main project was at Newton Central School where we involved pupils, their families and local Iwi in creating an Inner-City Forest.  The area which had been laid bare by motorway construction was replanted with locally sourced natives and is now protected by DOC. Jane described how “We were not only growing a forest but growing a community.”

During that time Jane worked as a Co-ordinator for Kelmarna Gardens, an organic City Farm in Auckland, which supported people suffering from mental health issues. Produce was sold to restaurants and the local community. These experiences laid the foundation for the next twenty-five years in London.  

A large part was co-founding and running an environmental educational charity www.globalgeneration.org.uk . The aims were to connect people with nature and support young people thereby creating a positive change.  Along with running a campsite in an ancient woodland the charity established a number of biodiverse and productive gardens in Central London, in schools, housing estates and on office building rooftops.  

As Jane says, “We wanted to bring the spirit of the forest into the middle of the city.” Wherever possible up-cycled materials like sewage pellets, logs from Hampstead Heath and construction waste were used. Everyone worked together to make the gardens, teenagers, business employees, children, and construction workers.  

In 2009 Global Generation created The Skip Garden beside St Pancras Station. In due course collaborations developed with architects who joined the charities community workshop programme.  This resulted in the Story Garden (now part of the British Library), a Floating Garden on the Regents Canal and a Paper Garden in the old Daily Mail Printworks. The gardens are therapeutic and educational places for the community. They are also a space where local GP’s and their patients can come together, learn, and be restored by the natural world.  

Alongside running Global Generation Jane completed a doctorate in 2016, which focussed on Leadership within Community Initiatives.

  “Now that I am living in the Wairarapa again,” says Jane; “I am grateful to be involved with the Aorangi Restoration Trust, the South Wairarapa Biodiversity Group and local Iwi. Their support is particularly welcome as my husband, sisters and I begin the wetland and riparian restoration on our family farm, which runs alongside the Ruamāhanga river.”