- Meeting The Friends of St George's Park
at the Co-op Children's Centre at the Junction of Coventry St and Radford Ave, Kidderminster DY10 2SE
Friday 5th September 2014 at 7pm - get a LEAP Update
ALL WELCOME!
ALL WELCOME!
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Monday 18 August 2014 The Friends of St George's Park were pleased to show Worcestershire County Council Chief Exec Clare Marchant around, along with Councillor Mary Rayner and committee members of the Friends of both Springfield and Broadwaters parks. The tour of local parks and other community based projects arranged by Cllr Rayner brought Ms Marchant to this unique council division in which all four parks have active friends of parks groups. The visit gave us an opportunity to describe our vision for our parks and to show each park's own particular culture in the context of community action and engagement in the Greenhill/Horsefair/ Broadwaters/Sion Hill DY10 postcode area. Many issues were covered on the walkabout tour that visited three of the four parks in DY10. Amongst the main points raised in St George's Park, at the BRAG project in Sion Hill and also at Springfield Park was the lack of community facilities across the area and most particularly the absence of any community centre hubs where voluntary activities could be based and co-ordinated thereby broadening the scope and reach of the Friends groups operating in the area. It was great to be able to meet with Clare Marchant and to tell her about the issues we face every day as local activists and park volunteers. We are grateful to Cllr Rayner for making this networking event happen, not only because it helped develop links with County Hall which is of course most valuable in itself, but also the tour further cemented links between the parks groups and their shared vision for our parks and our communities. It will come as no surprise to visitors to this site that the issue of our Let's Eat the Park project and our hopes of rolling out the community growing project beyond the park gates was high on the agenda in St George's Park, just as each of our sister parks had an opportunity to showcase their own projects and proirities. As an exercise in sharing and spending some time outdoors in DY10's green spaces together the walkabout was a great success, providing opportunities to experience other perspectives and strengthen the bonds between the community sector and the local authority. For FoSGP it holds out the prospect of adding to the existing partnerships with Wyre Forest District Council and the People's Health Trust a new relationship with the County Council, while reaffirming the existing bonds between the friends of parks group in the area. Clare took away with her a first hand account of our strengths and weaknesses and ways in which the various Friends groups hope to work in closer partnership with Worcestershire County Council to raise the profile of the DY10 locality for the benefit of our communities. Pictures by Colin Hill of Friends of Broadwaters Park KidsFest14 in St George's park yesterday will be a day to remember for all of us at FoSGP and hopefully for all the children, adults and families that came to the event too. The weather was very kind to us, the rain held off until after the close of the event cooling off the volunteers who helped to take down Kazzum's marquee in record time. Never before they told us, had they been able to pack up after a show in less than 2 hours, we took an hour and ten minutes - so well done to all involved, group cohesion in action. In some ways the downpour was very good news after the storm that struck our St George's Day event back in April and ended it so abruptly. Firstly, it was really good because it waited until the festival was over and secondly because it watered Let's Eat the Park and all the other parts of the inner Kidderminster wildlife corridor that starts at St George's Park and spreads up through St George's churchyard and into Baxter Gardens Park, in a green swathe northeast from the town centre . During the 4 hour KidsFest that was organised and funded through bids made entirely by Friends of St George's Park, on a return visit the ever popular Museum on the Move had 94 visitors and St George's Church ran out of craft materials due to the great popularity of their plant holder making/planting activities and their wonderful labyrinth which attracted a lot of attention from people of all ages. Some of the reflections recorded by walkers of the labyrinth show the depth of engagement there was at the event just as the Museum on the Move shows a broadness of interests and the spirit of discovery in the area. The Waste2Want craft making gazebo was yet another barometer of the creativity there is in the community seeking an outlet in an area of Kidderminster that doesn't have a community centre, where the parks are the only public spaces available to everybody of all ages, cultures and abilities. The other vital component of KidsFest was the storytelling gazebo provided by Kidderminster Library where enchanting tales were woven and songs sung, engaging especially with the lower end of the vast age range of people attending KidsFest14. Again the Library has attracted new members through their ongoing involvement in St George's Park community events. KidsFest is evidence of communities doing things for themselves, organising positive events and bringing the best of arts, crafts, theatre and discovery to the Horsefair. The star attraction of this year's KidsFest was without doubt Kazzum with their two free performances of the interactive production Nana's Jumble, a play which entertained and delighted an audience of all ages from toddlers to grandparents. The enthusiastic feedback we have received shows what a huge success Nana's Jumble was and FoSGP are proud to have been able to bring such high quality theatre to our locality. KidsFest14 in St George's Park demonstrates what communities can achieve working in imaginative partnerships. The Friends group are grateful to Wyre Forest District Council parks department for cutting the grass, tidying up the park and emptying the bins in preparation for the event. We also would like to thank the District Council/Kidderminster Arts Festival, Culture Shapers and Kidderminster Educational Foundation for their support in making this partnership event a huge success. St George's Park The People's Park Putting Communities in Control
The developing grass labyrinth in St George's Park has been created by Rev. Hugh Burton in time for KidsFest14 - next Saturday 9 August 12-4pm in the park FREE entry. With less than one week to go now before the start of the Kidderminster Arts Festival and KidsFest14 FoSGP members are busy finalising arrangements and still appealing for any help you can offer to stage the half day event. If you are interested in helping with the event please contact us through the comments form below.
There is a packed agenda this year including two performances by the London based Kazzum theatre company of their interactive production Nana's Jumble for children and families. Performances are at 12.45 and 2.45 pm please see more info on the What's On page here http://stgeorgespark.weebly.com/whats-on Between shows why not plant some herbs at St George's church upcycled plant pot stall and eat a bit of the park? There is a return visit for the third time of the ever popular Museum on the Move bus, there will be storytelling and facepainting and crafts made out of odds and ends and discarded materials by Waste2Want....and more! So ... come and discover what KidsFest has to offer all the family and explore the magic world of creativity and imagination All Welcome! |
Friends of St George's ParkWe are an active community group that is committed to working with others in order to further develop and improve St George's Park in Kidderminster for all of the community to enjoy. Tell people about usRespectWe welcome different ideas and opinions on how to improve our park and we hope you will share yours with us. Please remember this is a community based website and whilst we will not censor different opinions we will remove any posts that are offensive or abusive. Archives
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