Penge Green Gym Newsletter - Autumn visits, Christmas celebrations and a New Year's surprise.

 

Penge Green Gym Newsletter   Autumn visits, Christmas celebrations and a New Year's surprise.  In the autumn term the children from St Anthony's Primary school in Penge came to visit the gardens.  Our volunteers Brenda, Diane and Jane showed them around and spoke to them about the gardens and the work that we do there. Jane and Diana created some materials for the school visit. These have now been adapted for more general use and can be found in the display boxes at each of the entrances to Winsford Gardens and on our website at https://www.pengegreengym.org.uk/10th-anniversary-events-and-announcements/childrens-activity-sheets-for-colouring-in/.   We think they had a lovely time and were very pleased to receive letters from many of the children telling us of their time here and what they enjoyed.     Even though there were ongoing issues due to the pandemic we were lucky enough to be able to celebrate christmas thanks to the outside space at Melvin Halls.  We sat outside and ate a wonderful meal put together by our volunteers (special mention to Jane for organising) and had a lovely time.  Thankfully the weather was kind to us!       AXA Community grants In early December, we were pleasantly surprised to learn that one of our regular visitors to Winsford Gardens who works for AXA Insurance had nominated us for one of AXA's Community Grants.  Grant nominations are selected by AXA,  and voted-on by AXA employees. In the New Year, we were delighted to learn that we are one of just 28 local causes across the UK to be awarded an AXA Community Grant.  The money from this grant will go towards projects such as the repair of our natural seating area, restocking the bog garden and wildflower meadows and other areas of the gardens that will improve the biodiversity and natural habitats.  A big thank you to AXA for your support.       Winter in the Gardens The gardens continue to look great from autumn into winter.  Much work has been done to clear all the leaves from the grass and collect them for this years mulching.  This is also a time for maintenance and cutting back although we like to leave seed heads for the birds and other creatures in the gardens.  We still have a large and enthusiastic crew maintaining the gardens even in the coldest and wettest days.  We have also been to Royston Fields to 'scallop' the briars to encourage new growth and increase biodiversity.       Donations If you would like to support the work that Penge Green Gym undertakes at Winsford Gardens and Royston Fields you can now use this QR code and your Paypal account.  Just open you Photo app on your phone to view the QR code and it will take you to Paypal.     Easyfundraising Easyfundraising is also a great way to support Penge Green Gym.  With Easyfundraising every time you shop, a small donation is made to Penge Green Gym.  If you would like to help us, go to https://www.easyfundraising.org.uk/causes/pengegreengym/ and sign up.  It's totally free and helps us with all forthcoming projects.  Many thanks.