Autumn Preparations, New Volunteers and Three Big Events
REMINDERS OF FORTHCOMING EVENTS:
Just a quick reminder that we have 3 big events coming up in the next 6 weeks:
This Saturday 24th October - 10AM - 1PM BIG LEAF CLEAN UP
This is a great fun day for everyone, especially young families in the community, who help us collect lots of autumn leaves
Saturday 7th November - 11AM - ACT OF REMEMBRANCE ON THE POPPY PATH
A short poignant local Act of Remembrance for volunteers, members, park visitors and neighbours. It starts at 11am prompt with the playing of the Last Post and afterwards everyone is invited to join us for complimentary hot drinks in the park cafe.
Thursday 26th November - 7PM - CURRY NIGHT IN THE PRIVATE ROOM AT THE SANGAM
An opportunity to have a great relaxing night out together with fellow volunteers, friends and partners and to see how well we 'scrub up' when we are not in our high -vis! The food is great! The company is even better! Sonia is collecting names for this event. She started collecting today at our coffee break and we already have 24 people who have said they would like to come along. If you have not already done so will you please let myself or Sonia know if you would like to put your name down to join us.
TODAY
Although we had a cold and drizzly start to the morning, I am pleased to say that it did not take long before the clouds blew away and our 48 volunteers began to enjoy some lovely warm sunny weather to work in. We were delighted to welcome two new local volunteers Penny and Harley, for their first time today, and it was great to see Ashley from NatWest Bank returning once again to volunteer with us.
Picture 1 captures both Penny and Harley standing alongside the Flower Walk at the end of the morning. We were also joined by our regular teams from Brentwood College and Bridge College. Everybody was made very welcome.
TODAY - WILD FLOWER MEADOW MAINTENANCE AND SOWING
We had a large team consisting of Kevin, Chris, Harinder, and Felix working hard this morning on the next stage of the wild flower meadow maintenance project as we removed some of the denser sections of oxide daises and sowed a variety of new wild flower seeds including cornflower, poppies and yellow rattle. The task of digging out some of the dominant oxide daises proved to be a really hard task, and especial thanks must go to all the participants who definitely earned their tea and biscuits at the break time.
TODAY - WASTE NOT, WANT NOT!
We had another team consisting of Allan, Steve, Harinder and Patrick who worked on preparing the Poppy Path for the Act of Remembrance in a few weeks time.
Picture 2 shows Louise, Harinder, Patrick, Steve, Harley and Allan standing around the cleared area where the poppy seeds will be sown as part of the Act of Remembrance. Louise and Harley had just delivered the new banner (beautifully designed by Louise) advertising the Act of Remembrance, and everybody helped to install along the fence.
The core team then collected the removed sections of oxide daises from the wild flower meadow and transferred and replanted them onto the Poppy Path. Great thinking guys! Thank you all!
TODAY - LITTER PICKING
Once again, we had multiple teams giving the park an amazing clean up this morning. Andrew was the real early bird and had completely filled a bin bag by the coffee break.
This made it a bit harder to find any litter for Emma and baby Poppy (see picture 3) who were next to arrive in the park and even harder for Sheeba abd Brian from Bridge College who arrived last. So, we had a lovely pristine park thanks to some great work by all 3 teams. A huge thank you!
TODAY - HORTICULTURAL PROJECTS
There was lots of great weeding and tidying of flower beds taking place this morning.
In picture 4 we see Denise and Patrick standing by one of Denise's great looking rose beds. Patrick had just finished single handedly weeding the new flower bed nearby. Denise was also helped by Louise to weed ad tidy the other rose bed and the triangular bed further along the path. Thank you all. These beds are looking fabulous.
Picture 5 shows Gary mowing the grass around the same rose bed. This mowing just gives a super finishing touch to the flower bed. Thank you Gary.
Picture 6 shows a picture, taken late in the morning, of Anne, Sandra and Marina returning to the shelter after working with Savita, Denise (O) and Simone on weeding the central area of the Flower Walk of ground elder and bind weed. This was a brilliant piece of work because after it was finished, at the end of the morning, I tried to show our 2 new volunteers what ground elder and bind weed looked like and I could not find a single example anywhere in this part of the flower bed. Amazing!
Picture 7 shows Sandra and Lesley working hard on the flower beds around Buddy and Lucy. Picture 8 shows the other member of the team, Lorna, who stopped to pose for a picture on her way back from depositing her weeds in the green waste skip. Thank you ladies. This area looked just great afterwards.
TODAY - THE GREAT WORK ON THE TREE BASES CONTINUES
Picture 9 shows the ace tree maintenance team of Taylan, Harry and Chris, proudly showing an example of the superb improvements they made today to all the trees near the cafe.
In this picture they had deweeded the area around the base of the amelanchier tree and provided a layer of woodchip mulch before returning its wire protective cage safely into position. This was truly great work guys. Thank you!
TODAY - ELSEWHERE IN THE PARK
Gareth was another early bird this morning and so set about making a temporary repair on a reported gap in the park fence, adjacent with Rushton Street. Thank you. Gareth then went on to spray our 2 new wheelbarrows with our Didsbury Park Volunteers template. Picture 10 shows Gareth demonstrating his artwork on one of the wheelbarrows. Thank you Gareth.
A big thank you to the MCC grounds maintenance team this week, because they have recognised that the grass growing season this year has extended into October and the large grassed areas in the our park needed to be cut. This was undertaken at the end of last week -thank you! So today after Gary (helped by Carl N) had finished his work on the cricket square he not only mowed around the flowers beds but also mowed around the trees with low hanging branches where the large MCC cutters could not reach. This was a fantastic mornings work Gary. Thank you.
I am pleased to report that we continue our close association with Maggies via Kevin, and so this week Maggies donated a large number of ferns which we made use of by planting in the woodland area. Thank you Kevin.
Thank you also to Brenda who once again did a splendid job sweeping up the Gillbrook Road entrance to the park. Well done Brenda.
Thank you also to Gill who updated the lecterns with the posters for the BIG LEAF CLEAN UP this Saturday.
FINALLY - CARBON LITERACY TRAINING
I have received the following invitation from MACC. I have already been on this training. I enjoyed it and learnt a lot. If you would like to partake then please just follow the link below:
We invite you to join us on 11th November to be part of the largest VCSE Carbon Literacy training event Greater Manchester has ever seen, as part of International Carbon Literacy Action Day (CLAD) 2026!
There are 100 places on this free training course, which was created by Manchester Community Central (MACC) via the 2025 Manchester Carbon Literacy Fund for staff, volunteers and members of the Greater Manchester VCSE sector.
What is Carbon Literacy training?
Carbon Literacy® enables individuals, communities, and organisations to take impactful climate action and enact the cultural shift necessary for the transition to a low-carbon economy. It is a globally unique initiative, developed by The Carbon Literacy Project and recognised by the UN at COP21.
A day’s worth of accredited Carbon Literacy training covers the essential climate science, carbon footprints, and how an individual and organisation can have the greatest impact. Participants complete an action plan committing to practical individual and group actions to reduce carbon emissions and can be certified as Carbon Literate.
What will I get from it?
You will devise an individual action and a group action relevant to your role in the VCSE sector.
You will receive a globally recognised certificate to demonstrate your Carbon Literacy.
A better understanding of the science of climate change.
Increase your ability to influence and inspire change within your organisation and community.
The opportunity to network with colleagues from the VCSE sector in Greater Manchester.
Find out more about why Carbon Literacy is important, and sign up on the event page here: https://www.tickettailor.com/events/thecarbonliteracyproject/2445444
FINALLY FINALLY - POWER TOOL TRAINING
During the next 2 Monday's there will be some more power tool training given by Roger from MCC. If you would like to participate, will you kindly let me know.
Thank you once again for your amazing support.