Friends of Preston Park

The FoPP opened their Rose Garden Community Book Swap Box this week. The aim of the box is to encourage residents to take a book and either return it or replace it with another book. We have a number of LGBTQIA+ books and would like to thank and recommend  Kemptown Bookshop for their help and for giving us a good deal on some lovely new books. If anyone has a large group of books to donate please contact us at: info@friendsofprestonpark.org

It is hoped that we will also have a children’s book swap in place soon. So please come along and get reading!

(Please note that the box has been temporarily removed as we had a problem with the door. It will be back in place shortly.)

The consultation for the proposed Outdoor Gym by the back of the tennis courts at Preston Park will be running from 23rd October – 1st December.

Here is the link to the consultation: www.brighton-hove.gov.uk/preston-park-outdoor-gym

Residents joined Friends of Preston Park recently in Preston Park for a bat walk experience. Nick Lane and Ranger Marie Ingledew were on hand to explain the habits of a variety of native and non-native bats whilst we used bat sound detectors to try and identify those living within the park grounds. Unfortunately, the weather was rather damp and many of our bat friends decided to hide away for the evening. That said, we still enjoyed an evening of bat related poetry, funny stories, guessing games, and the flit of a few less rain hating Pipistrelles. Well done, to the younger members who came along to ask some more interesting questions. We hope that the weather will be kinder next year!

Our next mini event will be the opening of our new community book swap on Sunday, 22 October, 12.00 – 14.00, in the Rose Garden. Please come along and see what we have to offer.

Our next main event is Halloween, on Saturday, 28 October, 18.00 – 19.30. Please sign up for this on Eventbrite, via our website.

Friends of Preston Park volunteers prepared the Lavender Walk for the winter, weeding and giving a light prune to the bushes, cutting the overgrown ivy, honeysuckle and jasmin. There is much more gardening work to be done, so please join us next Tuesday at 10 am at the Rockery Chalet.

One of the great pleasures in working as a volunteer gardener is learning tips such as planting and pruning as well as helping shrubs and flowers grow happily by weeding, deadheading and mulching. On Sunday 1st October we had our first monthly Sunday morning session and enjoyed clearing some of the overgrown thistle and bindweed from the Rose Garden beds.

Why not join us for our next session on Sunday 5th November and meet our wonderful team of volunteers.

Autumn is an exciting time to come and learn how to prepare flowerbeds for the winter, and you can apply to your own garden the knowledge acquired.

Before and after.

FoPP will be running Gardening Sessions on the first Sunday of each month to help keep Preston Park beautiful, starting at the Rockery Hut at 10.00am.

If you are interested and would like to sign up as a volunteer, visit www.friendsofprestonpark.org/volunteering/volunteer-contact-form/

Please see the below poster for details:

The Friends of Preston Park will officially open their community book swap box on 22 October, 12.00-14.00, in the Rose Garden. Anyone who is interested, is invited to come along for a slice of cake and to see what books we have available for swapping.

We would like to thank Pride for donating towards this project, that enabled us to purchase some excellent LGBTQIA+ books for lending. It is hoped that we will also have a children’s book swap up and running shortly, as well.

The Friends of Preston Park (FoPP) will be holding their next AGM on Saturday, 11 November, 14.00 – 16.00. Residents and members are invited to join us at St. Peter’s cricket club, near the velodrome in Preston Park. Following on from business we have invited local biodiversity educationalist, Dr Dan Danahar to give us a presentation on butterfly conservation. Dan has led a number of local initiatives within the city of Brighton & Hove, including persuading the public to count butterflies, which in turn inspired the national charity Butterfly Conservation to develop the Big Butterfly Count.

He has also introduced Butterfly Havens as a habitat restoration approach for chalk grassland butterflies, giving the public access to nature on their doorsteps. Dan is Executive Trustee of the charitable company Big Nature – www.bignature.co.uk, which aims to revitalise the relationship between people and their local wildlife by creating natural habitats within the UNESCO designated Brighton & Lewes Downs Biosphere region (The Living Coast). So if you would like to learn more, please come along and meet Dan.

This week, Ranger Marie Ingledew came to meet with volunteer gardeners in the Rose Garden. Marie is a fairly new ranger to our area and is based in Preston Park as well as other green areas around Brighton & Hove. She will be assisting Ranger Neil Doyle and his team of volunteers to clear and mend the Rose Garden pond in October (weather permitting). We welcome this work as the pond has been in need of some tender care. It should be up and running soon and will be all bedded in again in time for spring.