OUR PATCH NEWSLETTER JULY |
OUR PATCH! The newsletter for London Park FriendsHello! This is the first new-style of e-newsletter for you from the London Friends of Greenspaces Network.This month London National Park City Festival is coming Lots to look forward to!Our next meeting is on Monday 9th September 6pm to 8pm City HallJuly 2019 Newsletter – Issue 1In this edition:Have you heard about the Big Green London Map? If not let us know if you want to ‘put your park on the map’!#GoParksLondon 2019 runs to 28 July. Please help us promote London’s parks and friends groupsNational Park City Week – lots to do and have fun outdoorsCalling all Borough Parks Forums – if you haven’t please complete our suvey now!Phew it’s hot out there! Did you know about funding for water fountains?A new book – How Hampstead Heath was savedPlease do forward this e-newsletter and help us spread the word! Better still subscribeBig Green London MapHave you heard about the Big Green London Map? If not – let us know if you want to put your park on the map’! Don’t miss this is exciting opportunity for park friends groups or other community groups associated with parks and green spaces in London to put their park on the new Big Green London Map! The map is part of the #GoParksLondon campaign which aims to promote London’s 3,000 parks and green spaces and the friends and community groups behind them. The map will be promoted widely and give greater visibility to lots of less-well-known parks as well as the groups like yours who help improve, maintain, and advocate for, parks. If you haven’t already signed up, please email campaign@cprelondon.org.uk telling us the name of your friends group, the park or greenspace and which borough it’s in. #GoParksLondon 2019 12-29 July Let’s all promote London’s Parks and their Friends Groups now! LFGN has teamed up with CPRE London to promote the vital role friends groups play. As part of this they are running #GoParksLondon during Love Parks Week (12-20 July) and National Park City Week (21-29 July). They will use press and social media to promote parks and their Friends Group events challenge London residents and visitors to discover new parks automatically enter people for an exciting prize if they visit a park they’ve never been to, post a photo on social media and tell them about their experience using #GoParksLondon. So the CPRE need lots of pictures and stories to tell via press and social media so they can use the fortnight to promote parks, their friends and the challenge, effectively! To send photos and participate email: alice@cprelondon.org.ukNational Park City Festival The Mayor of London’s National Park City Festival invites you to discover London’s amazing outdoors with hundreds of free events across the city, from outdoor fitness sessions and live performances to bee-keeping and open water events for the family. We are working with the National Park City Foundation, other partners and Londoners to make London the world’s first National Park City. Join an event from 20 to 28 July, and let’s together make our city greener, healthier and wilder. Click here for more information One of the National Park City Festival events is… Find it! Photo it! Share it! The Green Heritage Challenge is part of the Mayor of London’s National Park City Festival. Come and discover London’s amazing outdoors. Accepting the London Parks & Gardens Trust challenge will lead you on a rich and intriguing journey through some of London’s parks and gardens to discover facts, artefacts, sculptures, ancient trees, interesting moments in time, captivating characters and much more. Solving each clue reveals secrets, unlocks knowledge and redefines understanding of locations, structures or history. Take a photo of what you believe is the answer to each clue and post it on Instagram. This gentle activity is suitable for people of all ages and abilities. To find out more: http://www.londongardenstrust.org/ghc/Calling all Borough Parks Forums! If you haven’t completed our survey – please do! CPRE London and the London Friends of Green Spaces Network (LFGN) are working together to bring more support and exposure to London’s park friends groups. We are gathering some basic information about how each forum operates. If you haven’t completed the form for your areas please do so here – the survey is only 10 questions: https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/T8WJRTT We’ll be sharing the information collected with you and the other fora(!). We are hoping to arrange a meet-up in the autumn and get everyone together to share ideas and get things moving. Any problems with the survey please email: campaigns@cprelondon.gov.uk. We’re really keen to hear from anyone in the following London Boroughs as we don’t have contacts for fora here:Barking & Dagenham, Bexley, Camden, City of London, Ealing, Hammersmith & Fulham, Hillingdon, Kensington & Chelsea, Kingston, Newham, Sutton, Westminster. Phew it’s hot out there! Want to install a water fountain or refurbish an historic one? The Drinking Fountain Association also known The Metropolitan Drinking Fountain and Cattle Trough Association are offering grants. The Drinking Association campaigns for more drinking fountains. They also preserve the Association’s archive materials, artefacts, drinking fountains, cattle troughs and other installations. They have a grants programme offering between £50 and £2,000 to install water fountains because they want to reduce single use of plastic bottles. They have a really simple form – to find out more: http://drinkingfountains.org/ and finally… How Hampstead Heath was Saved: A story of ‘people power’ by Helen Lawrence Published by Camden Society with the support of the Heath & Hampstead Society This book shows what can be achieved, despite difficult obstacles and divisive debate. Helen Lawrence has a fascinating story to tell.” Griff Rhys Jones The campaign to save Hampstead Heath in 19th century was at the heart of what became the new conservation movement. Extensive new research has uncovered layers of fresh information about this fascinating story and rediscovers the remarkable people who played their part in the battle to save London’s commons. The book examines the political and social upheavals, the cultural developments that led to a new understanding of the value of open space, and the rise of Town Planning. The campaigners set up the Commons Preservation Society in 1865, (now the Open Spaces Society), and the National Trust in 1895; and they were all involved in the founding of the Hampstead Heath Protection Society in 1897– today’s Heath & Hampstead Society. The book tells, for the first time, the story of the Heath & Hampstead Society in the 20th century when they played a significant part in the development of modern democratic accountability. This story has wide appeal and will be of particular interest to civic and amenity societies, and to anyone who has fought to save a cherished piece of heritage. “The fight for the Hampstead Heath commons was a critical moment in London’s history. People had to fight – as they still do. This book is a record of a great victory, but also a call to arms.” Sir Simon Jenkins To Purchase contact the Camden History Society We are keen to find out about the parks and greenspaces issues in your area so we can share them on the web site and social media. Please send us your stories that you think other groups may benefit in hearing about.Remember a picture is worth a thousand words! Send to: campaigns@cprelondon.org.uk |