Photos of our Summer Craft Event - Saturday 13th August
We had lots of fun - here are a few photos. You can find lots more here.
Summer Newsletter - 2011
FREE Summer Craft Event - Saturday 13th August, Hartford Community Centre: 1pm til 3pm
We recently won funding off Trafford Housing Trust through their Community Panel Community Budget Grant to hold a summer craft event for children. This means we can stage it without charge rather than dip into our limited funds.
Amongst the 'make and do' actiivties will be bug hotels, felt air fresheners and of course our favourite: pot rolling. There will be light refreshments available for a nominal charge.
We have invited other local groups including Trafford Freegle: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/trafford_freegle/. This is a local organisation which aims to keep things out of landfill. Very simply you can gift and receive things from around your home that are gathering dust - but it's all free. We are accepting donations of books and children's items on the day from 10am or we can take delivery and pick up locally in the run up to the 13th - please email us if you have any items to donate. It will also give us an opportunity to promote the work we are doing and show residents the TMBC priorities for the park.
Saturday 13th August, Hartford Community Centre. Donations from 10am. Event time is 1pm til 3pm.
Health Walks:
We are still holding our health walks, as part of Trafford STRIDE scheme, on the second and last Friday of the month. We meet at 10am at Urmston library and then finish at the bowling hut for a cuppa. We will be starting a longer alternative route for the regular faster paced walkers soon as well as our regular 45 min slower paced walk. New walkers welcome.
All to Play For :
The Community Spaces award (Groundwork UK Big Lottery Fund) that FODP won to improve the playground area for 8-13 year olds is going to tender and suppliers will be chosen soon. Trafford Council will be improving the under 8s area at the same time, work on site will start after the summer with the opening event to be OCT/NOV time.
Bag It and Bin It!:
We have joined the Messenger Newspapers Campaign to encourage less responsible dog owners to clean up after their animals. Whilst we appreciate the vast majority of people care about the impact of fouling on the park we are really going to try hard to make everyone realise how important this is for the users of the Park. (see press release)
Toilet Facilities:
We have arranged to have the toilets at the bowling hut to be opened until 5pm each week day as opposed to the current 3pm closing time. They will be open at the weekends too with the committee members taking over the Sunday opening and closing. This is on a trial basis.
Bowling Hut:
There will be hopefully some improvements made to the Bowling Hut particularly the guttering and also in the future the toilet and general maintenance of the building including the possibility of a disabled toilet.
Park Notice Board:
This should be in the pipeline soon - hopefully provided by the council which will make it a lot easier for people to find out what's going on in the park and how to report incidents and concerns.
Sports Facilities:
We are looking into the possibility of applying for funding to improve the basket ball courts including resurfacing and adding a netball court too. Please contact us if you are interested in being involved with this.
We also still have ideas to have some fitness type equipment as part of a fitness trail - this was recently installed at Worthington park and seems to be very popular. We would have to do some research first on funding, location, etc. and will keep you informed.
AGM:
Its nearly time for our second AGM - date will be announced shortly. If anybody would prefer this to be more of a social event please get in contact with your ideas.
Ponds:
This Restoration Lottery Fund bid is council led with support from fodp. It is a rolling deadline which makes things easier. This fund has some quite strict guidelines in that anything we wish to incorporate must be proven to have been possible as at the time of the creation of the ponds. This includes materials and our wish to have a blossom tree in each of the grass segments around the pond. As part of the bid we would hope to incorporate new pond dipping areas so schools and groups could more easily use the ponds as a learning tool . It is quite a complicated bid and is on-going.
Finally:
Welcome to our newest Friends of Davyhulme Park, the Reception Class at St Marys (CofE) Primary School. They recently undertook a field trip to the park and produced a fantastic 3D model of what they had seen. We went in to talk to them, along with Dave Sykes of TMBC, and thoroughly enjoyed hearing their suggestions and thoughts. Thanks for inviting us.
We hope to do more of these school visits in the future, time allowing.
Thanks and kind regards - Committee FODP
Community Spaces Funding Bid Succeeds
30th May 2011
We would like to keep you up-to-date with our plans and we have a few bits of news for you
Firstly and most importantly we have recently been informed that The Friends of Davyhume Park has been successful in winning a bid to improve the existing play area in the park .
The Grant was awarded by Groundwork UK and The Big Lottery Fund's Community Spaces Programme and we have been awarded just over £49K. This will be used for new play equipment (particularly for over 8s) , resurfacing and a new natural themed play area; the Council will be funding a revamp of the under 8s play equipment at the same time so the whole area will be renewed and given a new lease of life.
This grant goes some way to offset the disappointment we had when the Department of Education awarded us £50k for the play area and then took back their offer before the money had reached our bank account!
A big thank-you to all who helped support us and to those who helped with consultation. Hopefully this is just what we need to give our group a boost and incentive to improve other areas of the park and to hold events on a regular basis . Look out for a press release in the local Paper.
Work is still progressing on the bid for Heritage Lottery funds to restore the park's ponds as one of the only remaining original features of the Park. As you may have noticed one of the ponds is practically empty as the lining is damaged the water leaks away - it's quite a big job restoring the ponds but hopefully we will get there.
Anyone who can remember any of the original plants that surrounded the pond area or who has any historical facts or stories - please let us know as it may help with the application . Thank-you to Dave Sykes from TMBC for his continued work on this.
We are ourselves continually searching for sources of funding and have somebody looking into this for us.
We will shortly be announcing a date for our craft day - the one last spring was a success and we hope to build on this and make it a regular annual event . We had been looking into the possibility of staging a St George's Day celebration this year but until we are a larger and stronger group we will have to put this on hold. Fingers crossed we can do something in 2012.
Our Health Walks (as part of Trafford Stride Scheme) are really starting to take off and we have both new and regular walkers attending. We meet at 10am at Urmston Library on the second and last Friday of every month and usually round off the walk by meeting up in a room in the library where we have a cuppa and a chat. Unfortunately we have to pay to hire the room so this Friday we are using the Bowling Club room in the Park bordering Crofts Bank Road , thank-you to Ray from the club for showing us round.
Anyone wishing to join please feel free to turn up - we are a friendly bunch so please don't hesitate to come if you are on your own - next one is this Friday and all abilities are welcome. We will meet outside Urmston library at 10am as usual.
We also have a new member of our committee. Tracy Clarke has agreed to take on the Press and Promotions side of our work, using her experience gained through working with the NHS. She is married with two young children and is a keen supporter and user of the park so we would like to welcome her on board. That makes a total of 4 on the committee so we are going from strength to strength albeit slowly but surely!
That just about rounds it up for this month. As ever, if you have any suggestions or ideas for the group please do not hesitate to contact us.
Pam, Kirsty, Rachel & Tracy
Friends of Davyhulme Park Committee
Community Spaces Update
26th January 2011
We are fast approaching the deadline for our Community Spaces bid - a big thank you to all of you who have helped by supporting us via events or by lending your views in person or email.
Please contact us if you have any further comments or views.
Some of you may be aware that the council has plans to move the skate park to the middle field with the possibility of making it larger - along with this development are possible proposals for over 13s play equipment.
Please let us know what you think, especially those of you who have or come into contact with teenagers - exact plans are still at consultation stage.
Follow this link for a short on-line survey http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/X23YD9R and we can pass your ideas on to the council.
Thank you for your support
Happy New Year
1st January 2011
We would like to wish all our friends a Happy New Year and hope all is going well for you in 2011.
Thankyou to everyone who attended our Christmas Craft Day and helped out - a great time was had by all who attended - Look out for our Spring Craft Day - date to be confirmed.
We will be announcing our future dates soon, but upcoming events would include a litter pick followed by a public meeting and a chance to put you ideas forwards for our events calender. Watch this space for dates and times.
We are still open to offers of help from anything to making teas/coffee at events/meeting to being our events photographer and help with collecting signatures of support for restoring ponds and help with the planning and execution of bullb planting days.
Christmas Greetings
16th December 2010
Happy Christmas to all and hope the festive season brings Good Tidings.
Our Health Walks will resume on Friday 14th January at 10am Urmston Library and then on Friday 28th Jan and every 2nd and last Friday thereafter .
Our All to Play For Community Spaces Bid is due in shortly - with plans to extend the existing play area to the edge of the roller hockey court and include elements of natural play if you wish to view the plans then please contact us or email us at fodp@hotmail.co.uk
Also the council had come up with an option of eventually moving the skate facility into the middle field with the possibility of some high challange equipment too! - if you have any comments or wish to view the plans regarding this please dont hesitate to contact us .
Our Winter Crafts Day went ahead and a big thankyou to all who attended and also for giving us your support and views of the plans for the playarea -
We hope to continue into 2011 with renewed enthusiasm and support from the community and organise activities such as planting days, litter picks, and a childrens spring crafts event please contact us with your ideas and let us know if you would like to join in and volunteer, thankyou for your interest and support - Happy New Year .
Health Walks
As part of the Trafford Leisure Trust Stride programme, 3 of our members have undertaken Health Walk Training and, with the assistance of Trafford Leisure Trust, have started a series of Health Walks taking in both Davyhulme Park and Golden Hill Park.
Starting on Friday 8th October 2010 we will meet in the foyer (downstairs) of Urmston Library at 10 am on the 2nd and last fridays of each month
Tea and Coffee is planned to be provided at Urmston Library after each walk.
The walk is expected to take 30 to 40 minutes and hopefully over the months we can change the route taking suggestions from participants and work up to a brisker pace and longer walk.
The aim is simply to socialise, walk and keep fit.
Website
Some of you may have noticed our updated and improved Website - since our last meeting we have been lucky enough to obtain the services of the Webmaster from St Mary the Virgin - Davyhulme (www.stmarysdavyhulme.org), who now also administers our website.
Hopefully we will now be able to keep you more up to date with funding activities and events.
Silver Award
Davyhulme Park has achieved the Trafford Greenspace Silver Award in 2010.
Last year we only achieved bronze status, so well done to all the park staff and community input. Here's hoping a gold is on the way for next year with the help of our gardners and community support.
Spring Crafts 2010
Friends of Davyhulme Park held a Craft Day at Hartford Community Centre during the spring - the event was well attended and youngsters came along and enjoyed activities such as making woolly sheep, pots of flowers, bookmarks and many other items, all using mostly recycled materials that we had gathered from Free-Cycle, friends and family.
Tea, coffee and cakes were available in return for a donation.
A big thank you to all who attended and helped, particularly the Friends who helped with the mini litter pick around the Community Centre and a special thank you to Hartford Pre-School (www.hartfordpreeschool.co.uk) who loaned us their equipment.
Stalls at the event were run by the NHS, Greater Manchester Police, Action for Sustainable Living and of course the Friends of Davyhulme Park.
Annual Public Meeting
Following our first Annual Meeting which was held at Hartford Community Centre, we will continue with the current committee of Pam Walsh as Chair, Rachel Burton as Secretary and Kirsty Long as Treasurer.
Minutes of the meeting can be obtained on request by e-mail to fodp@hotmail.co.uk .
Funding News
RBS Funds - We have so far been fortunate enough to secure a small amount of funding (£250) from the Royal Bank of Scotland for this year and last. As our treasurer works for RBS, we were eligible to apply for a grant from a fund which is available to members of staff who are involved with a community group.
Playbuilders - We were successful in our bid to secure funding from Playbuilders for the improvement of the play equipment for 8 to 13 year olds. However the Playbuilders source of funding has been cut and we are now waiting to hear if our grant has been axed altogether, shelved or if money will become available at a later date.
Community Space - A bid for funding has been put in by FODP and we have been successful in getting through to stage 2 of the application process. If we are successful, we hope to use the money to provide improved play equipment, either on the existing play area, or alternatively, on the middle field opposite the Community Centre.
We have not yet completed the stage 2 application and consultation is on-going, so please let us know if you would like to be involved in the consultation process, either giving us your views or in administration tasks, for example producing spreadsheets, graphs and tables etc.
(Community Spaces is a £50 million open grants programme managed by Groundwork UK's open Grants Department and is funded by the Big Lottery Fund, The programme helps Community Groups in England create or improve green, open spaces to enhance peoples quality of life. Grants of between £10,000 and £49,999 are available. Local Authorities are not eligible to apply. (www.community-spaces.org.uk)
Skate Park - Many of you know that there has been a feedback and consultations on the location on the Skate Park. It seems that both young and old would prefer it to be moved further into the middle of the park (possibly the middle field). either in form or an improved form.
We are looking for funds to help towards this as it will be very costly.
If you have any experience or ideas in this area please contact us by e-mail to fodp@hotmail.co.uk
Proffitts - Investing in Communities - We have been in contact with a company called Proffitts (www.proffittscic.com ) who have generously agreed to offer us free landscape architect's time, up to 20 hours, to help us design a master plan for Davyhulme Park, incorporating our ideas.
This is brilliant news as the plan should help us with future funding bids and costings, if you have any ideas, please give us your feedback ASAP.
Netball and Basketball - We have been making enquiries regarding improving these facilities and possibly adding a netball court to the existing basketball court, either as dual use or side by side.
Friends of Davyhulme Park - October 2009 Litter Pick
A great day was had by all as the Friends of Davyhulme Park organised their first litter pick event. It took place on a fine, dry day in October with many coming along to join in and help look after the park.
Although a cracking job is done by park staff all year round, we felt it would be fun and helpful to muck in as part of the 'Keep Britain Tidy' campaign to demonstrate our support and interest in respecting and looking after the park and to generate interest in our voluntary group.
The turn out was brilliant - especially as it was our first event - with local children and councilors joining in. We'd like to thank everyone for their help and the local police who took the time to meet with us before the event. We'd also like to thank the children from 'Playworks' who really got stuck in and pulled out lots of rubbish which got caught up in the undergrowth.
If you would be interested in future events, why not join our newsletter on the front page of this website? It's completely free, we won't pass your details on to anyone else and we'll keep you in touch about what we have planned for the park.