Mitzvah Day gardening event transforms Canons Park, Edgware

A group of 40 people of all ages from different religions and backgrounds took part in the gardening project in Canons Park, weeding, raking, sweeping, clearing and tidying the overgrown flower beds in the walled rose garden, to get everything ready for the colder months ahead and planting next year.

The day was part of Mitzvah Day, which comes from the word ‘Mitzvah’ - a word for commandment in Jewish law but which is often used to represent a good deed or an act of kindness.

Participants included members from Stanmore & Canons Park Synagogue, Mosaic Liberal Synagogue, Kenton Swaminarayan Hindu Temple, St William of York Roman Catholic Church, Harrow Interfaith, and the Friends of Canons Park.

Volunteers from many faiths taking part in the Mitzvah Day gardening project at Canons Park in Harrow (Image: Yakir Zur) Politicians such as Bob Blackman MP, Cllr Ameet Jogia MBE, and Cllr Kantilal Rabadia also joined in.

Mr Blackman, Conservative MP for Harrow East and Chair of the 1922 Committee, said: “Mitzvah Day is brilliant because it brings the whole community together to do things they may not usually be doing.

Children take part in the Mitzvah Day gardening project at Canons Park in Harrow (Image: Yakir Zur)

"Today, we had a whole group of volunteers, from many different backgrounds, unite to make this garden look beautiful.”

The project gave the opportunity for the volunteers of different faiths to spend time getting to know each other – re-establishing old friendships and igniting new ones.

Volunteers take part in the Mitzvah Day gardening project at Canons Park in Harrow (Image: Yakir Zur) Project co-ordinator Corinne Linskell, of Stanmore and Canons Park Synagogue, added: “This interfaith gardening project was a special way to kick off our Mitzvah Day activities. With so many faith groups working together on behalf of the local community, we were much 'stronger together’, achieving what we could not do on our own. This is such a rewarding, positive and enriching initiative to be part of.”

The volunteers’ efforts were warmly welcomed by the Friends of Canons Park, whose Chair Sharon Graham described the day as “incredibly special and much appreciated”.

Volunteers take part in the Canons Park interfaith gardening project as part of Mitzvah Day in Harrow (Image: Yakir Zur)

Reflecting on the ‘Stronger Together’ theme, Rabbi Rachel Benjamin of Mosaic Liberal Synagogue said: “This project is a microcosm of what we would like to see happening in the world – people from different communities coming together for good and worthy purposes, to talk to each other and to realise that we are all share a common humanity and can do so much more when we stand together.”

To register for this year’s Mitzvah Day, which will take place on and around Sunday November 24, 2024, visit www.mitzvahday.org.uk.