An evening session for designing and making Christmas wreaths brought a festive spirit to a community pop-up event at the Chipping Work Shop in Barnet High Street.

Ursula Stone, whose much acclaimed Flower Bank project in New Barnet, has gone from strength to strength in re-purposing surplus flowers, has found no shortage of takers for her seasonal initiative.

All the basics were there: left-over branches from Christmas trees, pruned vines from Forty Hall, Enfield, a good supply of moss, and other assorted items for brightening up a festive wreath destined perhaps for display on a front door.

Ms Stone is seen above with June Corkill (left) and Caroline Higgins, two of the 16 participants.

They all set to work after a demonstration and were soon engrossed in what Ms Higgins said was a fun evening cutting up sections of pine and arranging them around a base made from twisted vines.

“I have always wanted to make my own Christmas wreath and it so satisfying finding a use for foliage that might otherwise go to waste.”

Ms Stone opened the Flower Bank in Leicester Road, New Barnet, in 2019, and few zero waste campaigners can match her achievements in re-using surplus supermarket flowers that would otherwise go for landfill or incineration.

Volunteers arrange bunches of flowers and bouquets which are delivered to the homes of the elderly.

One of her latest projects – and a real one-off – has been to use surplus artificial flowers to decorate every platform at New Barnet railway station with hanging baskets, window boxes and planters.

Ms Stone, here with volunteers, who helped her arrange the displays.

“They are real high-end artificial flowers, and they all came Pinewood film studios who have just completed a new Disney film.

“The studios were looking for a good home for their flowers and passengers tell me how much they appreciate seeing the station looking so decorative and inviting,” said Ms Stone.

“Just seeing flowers can make people happy and it is so rewarding to think that flowers that were once on a film set are now brightening up the day for commuters.”

With the help of grants and donations to support the Flower Bank, Ms Stone not only decorates the homes of the elderly but also helps troubled youngsters rebuild their lives.

The project depends on her commitment and inspiration in deploying the art of flower arranging to connect with troubled lives, whether it is those of dementia patients at residential homes or the young offenders who assist in her shop.