The police were in Preston Park this Wednesday to engage with younger park users about the dangers of knife crime. It was good to see Rob, our PCSO, helping to keep us all safe in the park.
Sussex Police warn of the dangers of knife crime
And the first prize goes to Andrew Murphy
Andrew Murphy is the winner of the 2021 Photo Competition. Here is his winning picture …
Andrew took the picture on his Galaxy smartphone.
Update on the Wildlife Pond
Some of you may not know that there is a wildlife pond in St Peter’s churchyard, just to the north of the Coronation Garden. The pond had a big leak due to mindless vandalism some time ago and has become very overgrown so Friends of Preston Park has made a donation so it can be fully repaired.
Andy Jeavons and some of our volunteers stripped all of the undergrowth back so that a new concert base and lining could be built. Shelves and planters will now be created around the edges to encourage wildlife, and it will be finished with natural stones and a protective fence made of hazel strips. Once it is filled with water, there will be appropriate planting.
We have reached our target for the Cheery Blossom Walk
We’re pleased to announce that we have raised £9000 to create a fabulous new cherry blossom walk in Preston Park.
We were amazed to hit our target in less than two weeks, and we were told by JustGiving that we were one of the top 1% of most successful fundraising in September! This is thanks to all of you who were so responsive and generous in your donations. It was a great community effort and every single donation was very much appreciated by us all.
As soon as we reached our target, we were able to set work with the arboriculture team of City Parks, and they have been able to order 40 Prunus X Yedoensis trees, which are the traditional Japanese white flowering cherry blossoms. As they have a flat canopy that spreads 8-10 metres, we will be able to plant the trees 10 metres rather than 5 metres apart for the same effect. We will also be able to plant up both the path between the tennis courts and the Rose Garden and the path from the front of the Park to the former Bowling Pavilion, thus completing the whole project in one year rather than two.
The trees will be delivered around Christmas in 45-litre pots, and they will already be between 2m and 3m high. The advantage of them being potted rather than bare-rooted is that when they are planted the trees will put all their energy into growing upwards rather than into developing their roots first. As our appeal has now reached £9000, we will also be able to fund the securing stakes, green bags for watering and other related planting costs. Any remaining funds will be used for the commemoration plaque and signage.
We will let you know when the trees arrive and when planting will start, in line with weather conditions. We will need plenty of volunteers for digging the holes for planting! We are now closing the Cherry Blossom funding appeal, so once again, a big thank you to you all.
Lighting up the rockery
A new LED lighting system has been installed in the rockery. Andy Jeavons took these wonderful pictures:
A £100K upgrade to the Preston Park play area
The Council has started a fantastic £100,000 refurbishment of Preston Park play area. The work will include the installation of a new fun-filled fully-connected adventure climbing trail that leads to two long slides down a hilly embankment. There will also be new steps up and down the embankment to a ‘snakes and ladders’ castle, plus 30 challenges to get there.
Also included are an exciting new pendulum swing and carousel, plus new surfaces and an extended path through the area. Old favourites like the swings, toddler huts, roundabout and picnic zone will remain to complete the enjoyment.
Unfortunately, the work will take four weeks during which time the playground will be closed.
There’s more info on the Council’s website
The 2022 Preston Park calendar is now available
Our 2022 calendar, featuring the winning entries from this year’s photo competition is now available to purchase from the Chalet and Rotunda cafes, priced at £5.
As of Thursday 9th December, there were only five copies left in each of the two cafes!
See a PDF copy here
It’s time for daffodil planting
Stocks of daffodil bulbs have arrived …
And our gardening volunteers have been out in force planting them in the borders along the A23. Some 18500 were planted on Tuesday alone …
Two varieties have been planted to give two shows come the Spring. And that’s something to look forward to!
Announcing the winners for this year’s photo competition
Voting is complete for this year’s competition. More than 500 people voted and they have chosen their favourites.
Pictures from the following photographers have been selected for the calendar:
Sue Blight
Edward Farragher
Suzan Flanagan
Jilly Welch
Peter Levenspiel
Jane Lythell Clarke
Skylar McGillivray
Andrew Murphy
Lawrence Suss
Anne Bonwit
Therona Fraser
Rosalie Nickerson
Bill Palmer
Congratulations to them all and to everyone else who participated and made this year’s competition so successful.
The calendars are being printed and will be available by the end of November in the two cafes in the park at £5 each.
We will be awarding prizes to the three most popular photos and these will be announced at our AGM on 25th November.
You can see the shortlisted photos here.
Help preserve and celebrate one of the Preston Twins
The Preston Twins are among the oldest and largest elms in the world. Unfortunately, one had to be felled due to Elm Disease and has been moved temporarily to the Secret Garden in Kemptown. Please help us to preserve and celebrate this gracious tree and relocate it back to Preston Park where it will be enjoyed by the community for years to come.
Find out more or go straight to the JustGiving website now.