World events may be getting you down, but perhaps we can cheer you up a bit by saying that the Park, and the Friends, have had a good year overall. At our AGM, we looked back at 2016, and noted some highlights:
- Very Young Friends have had a strong year, with an enormous turn-out for the Easter Egg Hunt, and a typical monthly turn-out 15 to 30 people. Sessions delivered have a range of entertaining but educational themes, including those led by the Bat Group and BugLife.
- The Birthday Party was very well attended, with large numbers of stalls, and only a few issues, one of which was toilets (portaloos will be booked, next year), parking (inevitably) and the need for more volunteers; many thanks to Christina who was the force behind another terrific success.
- Voluntary gardening sessions have been well-attended and well-received; Rosemary is now co-ordinating this. Emma had organised a plant sale in May, which raised our profile.
- Ruth has been supervising the bird food project, with good sales of food packets from the café. Christine has delivered a bird-related talk to Knavesmire School children, and laminated signs have gone up in the play area.
- The Friends sponsored a very popular yarnstorming project, by Hippystitch, with workshops resulting in a beautiful ‘Fantasy Fish’ installation in the park.
- Lara McClure organised two clothes swaps, in the Cafe.
- Friends’ membership numbers had gone up, possibly partly as a result of the 10% Friends’ discount at the Café; the Friends thanked Mel for suggesting and supporting the discount.
- Dave Meigh (CYC) reported that there had been a lot of running repairs recently (eg repointing, refurbishment of basketball court and the pergola). Committee members had met with Dave for a site visit/walkaround.
At the time of the AGM, the Friends were looking forward to the bulb planting event (October halfterm), and willow weaving (December), both of which were also very well-attended, and successful. We have also recently sited bird feeders and hedgehog homes in the Park.
So, if you would like to help us continue with our work into 2017, please consider getting a FRP membership (what a lovely Christmas gift?). If you would like to help with our activities (maybe to help with the gardening?), why not get in touch by email, or follow us (Friends and Very Young Friends) on Facebook.
All the best for the festive season, and for 2017
Friends of Rowntree Park
