Lavender In Lavender Hill

Company Description

Why is there no Lavender in Lavender hill? A gang and drug infested community that needs help. The vision of Lavender in Lavender Hill is to populate Lavender Hill with lavender and by so doing create a Social Artwork and an Urban Farm for the production of lavender products. The project will bring a huge beneficial change to the community of Lavender Hill in two ways: • Beautification - Lavender Hill will be beautified by lavender floLavender In Lavender Hillrs. When you fly over Lavender Hill you should be able to see purple patches of lavender all over. This beauty will instil pride in the community and give them a sense of hope which over time will reduce crime, violence and gangs. Lavender fields will become a tourist attraction. This brings exposure to a community once avoided and gives the opportunity for community members to start their own businesses to accommodate for tourists. • Job creation - The biggest reason why Lavender Hill is infested with drugs and gangs is because of the lack of jobs. Drugs and Gangs give people something to do and an identity. By planting gardens and fields we are creating and urban farm for the production of lavender products. By finding mass retailers to resell our products to the public we will need to employ and train a large amount of people from the community to harvest from fields, create products and package products. The income from the sales of the products pays their salaries and is used to further the project by planting more fields, gardens and training more people. The project started in May 2011 and in only a few months 20 000 little lavender plants have been propagated and are growing at our nurseries. We currently have two nurseries, one at Zerilda Park Primary School and the second at Lavender Hill High School. We hope to have a nursery at each school in Lavender Hill. On a daily basis the team’s Master Gardener, Vuyesile, is training community members how to plant lavender cuttings at these nurseries. The lavender cuttings are donated from members of the public who own lavender bushes and want to be a part of this social upliftment project. The plants that are grown in the nurseries are planted all across Lavender Hill. We plant in drug hang out spots or dumping spots to reduce drug use and clean up the area. We also have access to large pieces of land to plant a lavender field. The Urban farm trains community members to create lavender products. Thus far we have lavender tea, cooking herb, biscuits, sachets and oils. These products are sold in stores and money goes back to running the project, planting more gardens and employing more people. We are working on getting products into mass retailers so that we can employ and train people on a more permanent basis. Thus, it becomes a sustainable project. We also host Lavender Cuttings Workshops where school and corporate groups can come learn all about lavender – how to take a cutting, how to plant it and how to look after and grow your plant. We are also starting Garden Planting days where groups come to plant a garden as a team building and community upliftment initiative. With Lavender Hill as the pilot project, we hope to later take the successful project and replicate it into other struggling communities. Contact: Marcelle van Zyl, CEO Tel: +27 (0)82 3577 613/+27 (0)21 433 1942 Email: ***** Facebook: lavender in lavender hill Website: *****