Equans

Our relationship with Equans began in early 2026, following an introduction through RBKC's social value programme to Equans'; Social Value Manager, whose team was working nearby on the Silchester Estate.

Rather than arriving with a predetermined project, the partnership began with a walk around Meanwhile Gardens – looking together at the places that needed some care and identifying where Equans'; people, practical skills and materials could make a genuine difference.

One of the first projects was the Playhut buggy shelter. The existing structure had deteriorated and was leaking, so members of the Equans team rebuilt it, providing the timber, roofing materials and labour. It's a modest piece of infrastructure, but an important one for the parents and carers who need somewhere practical to leave buggies and pushchairs while using the Playhut and Gardens.

The partnership then moved indoors. In July, an Equans group helped repaint and refresh the Factory Building kitchen/classroom, creating a brighter, cleaner environment for the community activities that take place there, including our regular Budding Artists sessions.

Other conversations have grown from that first walk around the Gardens, including how corporate skills and resources might help us tackle ageing raised beds, sleepers and other pieces of site infrastructure. Just as importantly, those discussions have been collaborative: looking at what will genuinely work for the Gardens, rather than imposing a ready-made solution. For us, that's what a good corporate partnership looks like – practical, responsive and rooted in the needs of the place. A leaking buggy shelter gets rebuilt; a well-used community room gets a new lease of life; and a relationship begins that can continue to grow over time.