Penge Green Gym Newsletter - Happy Easter from Winsford Gardens

 

Penge Green Gym Newsletter   Happy Easter from Winsford Gardens Spring is well under way in the gardens and with all the new growth comes lots of jobs! We had some little helpers arrive from Blue Pear nursery this month.  They often come and play in the park but this time they came with seeds and tools and got to work planting up one of our raised beds.  They come regularly to see if the seeds are coming up.  Fingers crossed we'll see them very soon!   Our spring display is truly glorious thanks to this year's MPGA grant and bulbs for London.  Each year our display gets more colourful.   We have been building new bays that will hold wood chip, compost and anything else that we need for coming projects. It is quite the engineering marvel and hopefully will last for years to come.   And finally, we had to show you this wonderful picture taken by our volunteer Lynda of a pair of Slow Worms warming themselves under a piece of roofing felt that we leave specifically for this purpose.  They are the most wonderful creatures and we are lucky to have them in the gardens.        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.

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.

Penge Green Gym Newsletter October 2021

 

Penge Green Gym Newsletter   Summer celebrations and Autumn awards In September we were able to celebrate our 10th birthday as Penge Green.  We were very excited that so many people could join us including old volunteers and stakeholders who heard about our progress over the years.  It was not just a celebration of the years of hard work but also of the lasting friendships made along the way.  We were very happy that Geoffrey A Thompson DL, representing the greater London Lieutenancy for the QAVS awards was able to come and  also members of TCV old and new, Lizzy Kaimakamis, our first project officer and Rachel Hoyes and James Squires current TCV members along with members of Idverde and local councillors. Green Flag awards, London in Bloom, Cultivation Street and more!   For the 7th consecutive year Penge Green Gym was awarded a Community Green Flag Award. Commenting on the news that Winsford Gardens has achieved the Green Flag Award standard, Green Flag Award Scheme Manager Paul Todd said: “I would like to congratulate everyone involved in making Winsford Gardens worthy of a Green Flag Award. To meet the requirements demanded by the scheme is testament to the hard work of the staff and volunteers who do so much to ensure that Winsford Gardens has high standards of horticulture, safety and environmental management and is a place that supports people to live healthy lives.” A year in which Winsford Gardens has also been awarded 2nd place in the Cultivation Street, Best Ecological Garden competition, received a Silver Gilt prize in the London in Bloom, Environmental Challenge, and an Outstanding in the London in Bloom, It’s Your Neighbourhood competition.  We have also received a cheque from Waitrose community matters and funding for planting spring bulbs from the MPGA. All in all we've had a bumper year of awards and the community group goes from strength to strength.  Well done to all our hard working volunteers!     Easyfundraising   Easyfundraising is 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.

Winsford Gardens flies the flag today as one of the country’s best open spaces.

 

Winsford Gardens flies the flag today as one of the country’s best open spaces.

In a record-breaking year for the Green Flag Award, as the scheme marks its Silver Jubilee, Winsford Gardens is one of 2127 celebrating success today, and is one of 47 Community Green Flag Award winners in London, and celebrates along with 7 of LB Bromley parks managed by idverde.

Today, Penge Green Gym is raising a Green Flag at Winsford Gardens, our 7^th consecutive year of winning a Community Green Flag Award.

This award is the international quality mark for parks and green spaces.

After 18 months that have seen our parks and green spaces play a vital role for people through lockdowns as a place to relax, exercise and meet friends and family safely, the news that Winsford Gardens has achieved the Green Flag Award is testament to the hard work and dedication of Penge Green Gym that make the green space a great space that everyone can enjoy.

Winsford Gardens joins parks and green spaces as diverse as the National Memorial Arboretum in Staffordshire, Woodhouse Park in Peterlee and Chiswick Old Cemetery in London.

Commenting on the news that Winsford Gardens has achieved the Green Flag Award standard, Green Flag Award Scheme Manager Paul Todd said: “I would like to congratulate everyone involved in making Winsford Gardens worthy of a Green Flag Award.”

“To meet the requirements demanded by the scheme is testament to the hard work of the staff and volunteers who do so much to ensure that Winsford Gardens has high standards of horticulture, safety and environmental management and is a place that supports people to live healthy lives.”

The Green Flag Award scheme, managed by environmental charity Keep Britain Tidy under licence from the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, recognises and rewards well-managed parks and green spaces, setting the benchmark standard for the management of green spaces across the United Kingdom and around the world.

In celebration of this year’s announcement, Green Flag Award is asking buildings and monuments around the UK to #GoGreenForParks today to show appreciation for the spaces that mean so much to people.

However, very few Friends of Parks groups apply for Community Green Flag Awards on their green spaces, with only 47 in whole of London. We believe many more could and should.

This Award also tops off a very successful 10^th year for Penge Green Gym who go from strength to strength. A year in which Winsford Gardens has also been awarded 2^nd place in the Cultivation Street, Best Ecological Garden competition, received a Silver Gilt prize in the London in Bloom, Environmental Challenge, and an Outstanding  in the London in Bloom, It’s Your Neighbourhood competition.

Pop-up Plant & Cake Sale

Vegetables, fruit bushes,

herbs, flowering plants

at Winsford Gardens on

Sunday 6th June from 12pm Cash only Bring your own bags Covid restrictions apply Croydon Road, SE20 7SS

Penge Green Gym Newsletter Spring 2021

 

Penge Green Gym Newsletter   Spring at Winsford Gardens After what seemed like a very long, cold winter, spring and an easing of the lockdown has come to Winsford Gardens.  We are still keeping our teams small but we are excited to get back to work.  And spring brings lots of jobs with it Our rose beds have been weeded and a new layer of compost from our own compost bins has been added to keep the weeds down (hopefully).  The compost bins are now in a poor state so we are starting to repair them.  We are also starting to repair our hazel fences and recently went to a TCV site in South Croydon to collect coppiced hazel.  Many thanks to Peter Underwood at TCV for his help.  We have also cut some willow from Royston Fields to repair our dead hedges. We have also been creating a border for our gravel garden to define the path.  It was quite a task digging through the clay and sometimes hardcore but we think the result was worth it.  We will be doing the same thing on the other side. We are also very excited to see frogspawn again in our growing area wildlife pond.  Hopefully we will have lots of tadpoles this summer, watch this space! We are all very excited to be back in these beautiful gardens and they certainly put on a fantastic display this time of year!  We hope to be able to celebrate our 10th anniversary with everyone this summer but whatever happens we know the gardens will continue to be enjoyed by all who visit.          Easyfundraising   Easyfundraising is 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.

Penge Green Gym Newsletter December 2020

 

Penge Green Gym Newsletter   Seasons Greetings from Penge Green Gym As we come to the end of this extraordinary year we would like to wish all of our supporters and volunteers happiness and health at Christmas and a hopeful new year.  Throughout the year we have faced challenges like everyone else.  During the first lockdown a skeleton crew of volunteers kept an eye on the park doing essential maintenance where necessary.  When we were allowed to begin our Wednesday sessions once again it was heart warming to welcome back our loyal gang of volunteers.  We stayed safe and took advantage of the fine summer weather to create new features such as the new gravel garden sign, leaf mulch area and continue looking after the park's many flowers, shrubs and trees.  We were also awarded our 6th Green Flag.   A year in pictures at Winsford Gardens                       Our abiding memory of this year in the park is the connection we made with so many people (some, finding the park for the first time) who came to sit, play, walk their dog or just enjoy this beautiful greenspace in the heart of Penge.  We were especially excited to meet so many of you at our impromptu pop-up plant sale.  Thank you for all your kind comments.   Those using the park at the moment will possibly notice that we are renovating the mound which has suffered from it's popularity, becoming quite bald!  We are stabilising it with tyres which will make fun steps to climb up it. We look forward to completing this and other projects in the new year.  We also hope that the new year brings better news for everyone.  We also hope to hold a celebration of our 10th year as Penge Green Gym.  You will all be welcome!     Easyfundraising   Easyfundraising is 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.