Flowers bloom hope in Windsor East

With a vision to change their community one small initiative at a time, Windsor Community Support Services (WCSS) hosted a sprucing up day in their community.

The reason behind the day was to encourage residents to beautify Windsor. This ongoing project involved residents, investors, caretakers and body corporates, and encouraged them to spruce up the area by planting flowers, vegetables and trees.

Mathabo Bekimbia-Tchoffo of the organisation said Windsor used to be such a beautiful, leafy suburb. “Now you can hardly walk along pavements, there is no room left for pedestrians to walk as it is occupied by illegal street vendors and litter all over the streets.”

For the day to be a successful one, the organisation invited all the residents to participate. Volunteers planted succulents on the corner of Judges and Beatrice avenues which is the main entrance to Windsor East. Other organisations also came on board with Tshepo Community Development Initiative donating plants and Up My Street, a local property management company, also lending a helping hand.

Community members also planted a succulent garden along a section of land on Knights Avenue in Windsor West. This garden is located close to the local shelter. “We’ve turned the dumping area into a beautiful garden, the guys living at the shelter committed to looking after it,” said Mathabo.

Mathabo concluded that flowers alone could not solve the challenges they faced in their suburb, however, it was a great start. “We at the WCSS have a saying – where flowers bloom so does hope.”