Short Documentary – Growing Communities: An Urban Gardening Project in the Heart of London

Growing Communities is an urban gardening project in London. The group hosts three sites throughout the city, each of which is open to volunteers at different times. Allen Gardens is located near the Manor House Underground station, in a residential neighbourhood. It serves two purposes:

(1) To educate community members and local groups on how to garden and the importance of organic produce; and

(2) To generate funds through its “veg box” scheme, in which Londoners can order a monthly produce box with salad fixings grown in the garden.

Allen Gardens is a peaceful, natural respite from the bustling London cityscape. Volunteers can come to enjoy the outdoors and escape from their daily routine while learning how to grow their own organic vegetables.

I had the opportunity to visit Allen Gardens on a Monday, when its open to volunteers. Grower Paul Bradbury and volunteer Geraldine showed me the garden and explained its importance:

 

Marrakech

I recently spent a weekend in Marrakech, Morocco and documented some of my experiences in short video clips. After a few weeks in the video section of this MMJ module, I decided to create a short feature using the clips I had gathered. I applied what we have learned so far about adding music, editing clips, and telling a visual story.

From strong coffee and orange juice at our Riad to navigating the city’s crazy traffic patterns to the surreal nights at Jemaa el-Fna, this is my trip to Marrakech.

“eBay Visas”

UK government officials have proposed auctioning off tier one visas to the highest bidders, allowing wealthy foreign investors to bypass many of the hurdles in the way of settling in the country. Foreign investors currently have the option of paying a minimum of £1 million to expedite the process, and this move would double that starting cost to £2 million, then auctioning off visas from that point. This change would be in an effort to increase the benefits to the UK economy, although critics complain that it would create an “eBay culture” and would give an unfair advantage to those who can afford to pay more.

For more information: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-26334978