Getting Back to Normal – A Fantastic Day of Volunteering in Didsbury Park
TODAY - GETTING BACK TO NORMAL!
Our volunteering this morning, was carried out in completely contrasting weather to the snow and frozen ground which we experienced last week. We had a completely dry morning and with temperatures high enough to enable us to do some gardening in the soil, it was really encouraging to see such a great turnout of 39 volunteers.
It was lovely to see so many regular volunteers, returning after the Christmas break, as well as some past volunteers like Diane and Ian making a special appearance. We were also delighted to welcome Taylan, a new local volunteer. We were also boosted today by the students and staff from Brentwood College as well as Shigad and job coach Sheeba from Bridge College. Everybody was made very welcome.
We send our best wishes this week to Murray. You may recall from last week's 'update' that on Monday, Murray slipped on the snow on Gillbrook Road on his way to volunteering with us. On Wednesday, when things were not getting any better Murray went to A&E and discovered that he had fractured his ankle in a couple of places. We all wish you a speedy recovery Murray!!
TODAY - THE WILD FLOWER MEADOW PROJECT CONTINUES TO MAKE EXCELLENT PROGRESS
We have been very lucky that the weather has been reasonably kind to us this week and has enabled some really excellent progress to be made on the Wild Flower Meadow Public Access Project. The old large railings have now been completely removed by the contractors from around the wild flower meadow and some of these large fences have been re-installed to provide a new secure fourth side to the existing bowling green.
Picture 1 shows the newly installed secure protective fencing around the existing bowling green. The feedback from the public is already very positive, as the project will open up a new large section of the park for public use. Picture 2 taken shortly after all the large railngs had been removed, provides a great feeling of the openess that there now is in this area and the feeling that it is now part of the rest of the park.
Picture 3 shows Lorna and Sandra busy weeding the areas under the hedges around the periphery of the wild flower meadow. We clearly want to make it look as smart as possible by the time it is ready to be opened up to the public. Thank you Sandra and Lorna.
TODAY - FOCUS UPON TIDYING UP THE PARK - LITTER PICKING
We had some great support today from a number of volunteers who came to the park to make sure that any litter from the Christmas break was soon picked up and the park returned to its nomal spotless state.
Picture 4 shows little Winnie and dad Andrew, and little dog Brian, doing a thorough litter pick across the park. Elsewhere in the park Alexander and mum Joanna were also on a similar campaign, as was Ian (great to see you again) Shigad and Sheeba, and some of the Brentwood students and staff. With 5 separate enthusiastic litter picking teams working hard this morning we soon had the park looking pristine again.
TODAY - FOCUS UPON TIDYING UP THE PARK - PATH CLEANING
Today was the first opportunity we have had for 4 weeks to clear up any remaining leaves left as slip hazards on the paths. Here are a few of the pictures of some of the volunteers involved in this exercise throughout the park:
Picture 5 shows Leslie showing off the spotless path next to the volunteers shelter. Gary also made a great contribution to the cleanliness of this path. Thank you both.
Picture 6 shows Chris doing the last bit of tidying up on all the paths around the area of the park at the Sandhurst Road entrance. Earlier this whole area had a large team of Sonia, Leslie, Christine, Jane , Anna and students from Brentwood college, and Allan had made a big contribution with the leaf blower. Thank you all, this was a fantastic improvement
Picture 7 shows Allan, complete with leaf blower, having moved further round the park towards the Poppy Path
Picture 8 shows Anna and two of her students from Brentwood College as they tip some of the leaves collected from the paths, into the green waste skip. Well done everyone
TODAY - TIDYING UP THE FLOWER BEDS
Picture 9 shows the volunteer team of Gill B, Denise, Jude and Joyce, who had been weeding and tidying up the Sandhurst Road end of the Flower Walk. This team were especially targetting the alcanet which was growing in abundance in this area. Thank you all, this was a great start to sorting this area out.
Meanwhile Tristan, Ilma and Lucy continued their pre-Christmas project of the moss garden along the path to the Wilmslow Road entrance. Thank you guys. This is really progressing well.
Picture 10 shows Roger, Carl M and our new volunteer Taylan, who had also been working on tidying the rose beds and the area near the Sandhurst Road pedestrian entrance. Thank you all. This made a big improvement.
TODAY - REPAIR OF THE SIGN POST
Today's heavy gang, made up of Richard, Kevin and Carl N repaired the damage that had been done to the sign post by a broken branch in an overhanging tree. Richard and Kevin very carefully removed the broken branch and then with Carl's assistance they were then able to re-adjust the sign post so that it was working perfectly again. Thank you all. This was a super result.
Thank you once again for your amazing support.