Meet the People
who manage Eden Nature Garden
Philippa Gould
Chairperson
Philippa became involved with the Eden Nature Garden in 2004, becoming its Chairperson in 2005. As well as volunteering in the garden, Philippa has been dedicated to making Eden Nature Garden a centre of excellence in promoting biodiversity.
Over the last 20 years she has built up a community of hundreds of Friends of Eden, raised funds, liaised with local authorities, organizations and schools and collaborated with like-minded charities. She has given numerous tours and talks and enthused volunteers and visitors from far and wide.
Committee & Trustees
Philippa is supported by a small committee that meets regularly to ensure the smooth running of the garden and to plan how we continue to fulfil our objective of championing biodiversity in the heart of Clapham. This includes our future plans for the garden and how we communicate our ethos through volunteer groups, talks, educational signage, newsletters and our website. The committee manages fund raising, events, administration and budgeting.
As an independent charity, we are also supported by a board of trustees who meet once a year to review Eden’s progress and plans and to approve the accounts which are then submitted to The Charity Commission.
The committee and trustees all give their time and expertise for free and play an important role in ensuring Eden Nature Garden continues to be an award winning nature garden for all to enjoy.
Benny Hawksbee
Head Gardener
Benny is in his 10th season as Head Gardener for us, having started in 2015. Benny originally studied Marine Biology, before working on sea turtle projects for the best part of 5 years in the Mediterranean and Latin America. His passion for wildlife eventually spilled over into the world of plants and after initially starting as a volunteer in the garden, he eventually became a full-time gardener, with Eden as one of his main projects.
Benny is passionate about sharing his knowledge and showing how, even in the middle of cities, we can all do a little bit to nurture these important pollinators, even a pollinator friendly plant on the windowsill will help. He is driven by the need to improve our urban gardens and spaces, in order to help mitigate biodiversity loss and to help us deal with the increasingly erratic and difficult conditions that climate change is bringing.
Benny has been giving talks at venues as far afield as Sheffield and Cornwall, as well as becoming a regular speaker at the renowned Garden Museum where he has already given two talks in 2024 sharing his expertise on bees and wasps and explaining their importance to the environment and human life. He has also been interviewed for various television shows, podcasts and newspapers which are mentioned on our Press page. When not gardening, Benny can be found hiking, birdwatching or bee-spotting.
