Great to be back in the park for our Autumn Volunteer Morning

Volunteer Morning – Saturday 19^th October

We’d postponed our Volunteer morning by a week to avoid the torrential rains of the previous weekend. We were rewarded with a very mild, and dry, Autumnal day.

As usual the Friends team, Fiona, Bryn, Nausheen and myself, were on site early to get our base-camp area set-up, supported by a couple of regulars – James, the photographer, and Malcolm.

We’d put in place extra precautions to protect our volunteers during this COVID crisis – these included clean/dirty tool areas, brand new gloves, registration, and social distanced working groups.

We had no idea how many people would come down today – given the current state of affairs. As it turned, we were not to be disappointed. We had a fantastic turn-out, with lots of regular faces, and some new faces. Everyone was very respectful of the safety measures we’d put in place. A massive thank-you to everyone who came down and who made such a huge effort to get our park looking great.

(Video – Fiona Sowell)

We did have a few people litter-picking, but it is testament to the hard work of the weekday group that we only managed to fill up two large bags with rubbish. We did find a set of golf clubs. Not sure how they got there!

With so many people on site, we were able to take on lots of jobs. The pond area was cleared-back and opened-up. We want to avoid the pond space becoming overgrown and dark.

Our volunteers worked hard to spread wood-chip on the path around the pond, the path across the private land, and the one that goes past the bird-feeders at the back of the park. A lot of bramble was removed at the front near the road, and some of the trees here had their lower branches removed to help open-up sight-lines and improve the shape of their crowns. At the back of the park a cut-through between the rear sports field and the rear meadow was re-opened, and wood-chip spread through here. These cut-throughs make the space more interesting to walk around.

Apart from the fact that lots of work was done, I also reflect on how lovely it was being out working in the park with our fellow neighbours. What a great sense of comradery and common purpose there was. There’s no doubt that these events are very good for our mental as well as physical well-being.

We all have a shared interest in our local park, and many have come to really appreciate the amenity it has offered us during lockdown and afterwards. As a community we’ll keep working to protect and improve this wonderful space.

(Thank-you to Andy Robinson, Community Manager, idverde, for organising the tools and the wood-chip deliveries, and also to Elliot Newton for lending additional tools from your Citizen Zoo tool stash. Once again thanks to James Campbell taking photos).