Resident spotlight: Diane Warwick – Building community at Mount Green

For the past nine years , Diane Warwick has been at the heart of her Mount Green community, helping to turn neighbours into friends and shared spaces into places of real connection.

Diane plays a key role in bringing residents together through a range of regular activities, at her home in St John’s Close. Every Monday, neighbours get together for the weekly coffee morning, an informal but much-loved fixture that gives people the chance to chat, catch up and meet new people.

Over the years, Diane and her neighbours have organised everything from Christmas parties and Halloween gatherings to fish and chip nights and birthday celebrations. The most recent Christmas party in 2025 saw around 17 residents come together to celebrate. Everyone gets involved, whether it’s doing some baking, chipping in for a group lunch, taking turns hosting, and even sharing the washing up. Through this established community group, Diane has helped to create a sense of collective friendship and unity.

The group was originally started by another resident, and when they stepped back, Diane and her sister volunteered to keep it going. Since then, the community at St John’s Close has continued to grow in strength, inclusivity and kindness, supporting one another not just during celebrations, but also in more difficult moments, including recently coming together to hold a wake for a much-missed friend.

Diane’s passion for gardening has also helped the neighbourhood flourish. A keen grower, she cultivates plants and vegetables in her garden and shares cuttings and home-grown produce with those around her. Diane entered the Stonewater gardening competition last year.

With support from Mount Green, the group has recently secured funding for new troughs and planters. Their next project is to smarten up the front of everyone’s homes, to brighten the neighbourhood and strengthening the shared sense of place.

Diane’s story is an example of how residents can come together to form strong communities at Mount Green schemes that thrive and support each other.