The Friends of Windmill Gardens is a local residents’ group set up in 2003 to campaign to restore, preserve and enhance Brixton Windmill and Windmill Gardens. 

We were first registered as a charity in 2007 and in 2018 were re-established as a Charitable Incorporated Organisation (1176991), with the following aims:

Image: Owen Llewellyn

• to support the restoration, preservation and continued use of the Grade II* listed windmill
• to build a unique education facility for schools and the local community that will put the windmill and its history into context
• to enhance the park by creating a green oasis to benefit local residents – adults, young people and children – and attract visitors and windmill enthusiasts from further afield
• to provide community events that bring local people together to celebrate and enjoy this unique historic building and open space.

You can read the Constitution of Friends of Windmill Gardens.

• Restoration of Brixton Windmill: Thanks to campaigning by the Friends, the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) awarded a grant of just under £400,000 in March 2010 for the full restoration of Brixton Windmill. Lambeth Council and the Friends provided additional money, staff and volunteer time to fund the project, which included a four-year access and education programme and opened the windmill for guided tours each year from Easter to October.
• Construction of Brixton Windmill Centre: When the HLF-funded programme ended in 2015, the Friends continued to provide guided tours and campaigned for Lambeth Council to build an education centre so they could continue running their school workshops. The Council agreed, so during 2019-20 the new centre, funded by Lambeth Council and designed by architects Squire & Partners, was built next to the windmill. The Brixton Windmill centre is now leased to the Friends to manage.
• Green Flag Community Award: We achieved this for Windmill Gardens in 2015 and have retained it ever since.

• The Friends of Windmill Gardens provide a voice for the local community, particularly for those people who love the windmill and use the park, its facilities and the Brixton Windmill Centre. Here’s how you can get involved:
  • Become a Friend and help shape the future of the Friends of Windmill Gardens and our projects.
  • Volunteer – we’re always looking for volunteers to show visitors around Brixton Windmill, to mill and promote stoneground Brixton Flour, to spruce up Windmill Gardens, to help with school workshops or run the new Brixton Windmill Centre, or to organise our annual programme of community events. Training and support is offered for these different volunteer roles.
  • Donate

The Friends generally hold two general meetings plus an AGM every year to update members on their activities and progress. You can see a schedule of future meetings and minutes from previous meetings here.

A board of trustees meets between general meetings of the charity to plan strategy and campaigns. 

There are also several sub-groups of the Friends covering communications, education projects, events and festivals, fundraising, milling, the park, income generation and volunteer programme. If you’re interested in getting involved in any of these areas of work or have time to volunteer at the Brixton Windmill Centre, email info@brixtonwindmill.org