In this chalky soil, community grows

Sarah had seen my posts in different Gravesham Facebook groups and sent me a message to find out if anyone had responded, and to offer some suggestions. 


Sarah works at the local hospital (Darent Valley) and was born and grew up in Higham. She moved to Gravesend in her 20s, back out to Chalk  and has recently moved back to Higham to support older family. A whole life lived in this chalky soil.


Sarah wanted to share that the thing she is proud of, how 22 miles from central London she can stand in open countryside and not see a single house – she love’s the open space. Through my chat with Sarah I learn how proud she is of so much – the Sikh community who delivered hundreds of meals to the hospital staff during the peaks of the Pandemic, the beauty of the local woods – Cobham, Shorne Country and Jeskyn’s Parks, the Cyclo park that friends of hers travel from Cambridgeshire to enjoy (it’s that good)


Sarah is someone who builds community  through connecting and sharing. I finished the call with an list of organisations and people to connect to, all doing amazing things.


* City Praise Centre in Chalk, which has providing lunches to struggling families through lockdown

* Tony Harris who runs The Table – a table set up in Gravesend from which food is provided to people who are experiencing homelessness, with people from the community cooking and providing that food.

* Sarah’s neighbour, outraged at the empty shelf and shortages of soap at the start of the Pandemic and aware of the impact on elders and other vulnerable people, taught themselves to make sanitising hand gel. They made up boxes with homemade sanitiser, soap and crossword puzzles to deliver to people in Higham. And then they created afternoon tea boxes to celebrate the Jubilee. And then sunflower growing kits for all the children in the village over the summer. Resourceful neighbourliness in action.

* I learn about Dinner at 65, a super club set up by a chef which (Pre-Covid) invited 15 people to a 5 course meal together. Connecting new people over food. Since Covid they now offer a heavily oversubscribed fortnightly meal service (check the website on Saturday morning and get in quick!)

* TH Brown in Shorne used to provide vegetables to London restaurants and switched to food boxes for local people to buy and get delivered to their door.


I discover the Sarah has joined the Chalk Gardening Club and although meetings are held on zoom at the moment, she’s looking forward to ‘face to face’ meetings and outings when they start up. I’m advised to take a trip to the Mausoleum at Cobham, restored with Lottery money and in a park with Highland Cattle, it’s a country park not to miss.


Sarah is looking forward to travelling in their camper van when ‘All This’ is over – a glass of wine by a fire under the stars. She also can’t wait for a pint in their local, The Gardeners in Higham, a real community pub. We talk about community, Sarah notes it’s what you make of it, what you put in. I’m promised a walk with Sarah, ‘to really tire me out’ – I can’t wait!


It’s a really rich chat, it’s exciting to speak to someone new in this way for the first time in a year. I love that Sarah is about celebrating the good things, amplifying those who nourish their community. I get a feeling we might get on over a glass of wine around a fire, and I’m hoping to join them for a walk soon.





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