Friends of Preston Park

This year’s Preston Park Photo Competition has closed. We received more than 250 entries which, with the help of all the photographers who submitted entries, we have narrowed down to a shortlist of 30.

We now need your help to select the very best. The top three will receive prizes. The best 12 will appear in our 2022 calendar.

Click here to view the photos and submit your vote. You have until October 15.

Voting has now closed. The winning entries will be announced at our Annual General Meeting.

A message from the Local Action Team:

Community safety in our parks is important for everyone, young and old, especially at a time when we value our outdoor green spaces more than ever. In Preston Park Ward we have two great parks and three Police Community Support Officers (PCSOs) who keep an eye on activity to minimise antisocial behaviour and crime.

Our community can help make this summer a safe one by doing one simple thing – report anything you see to Sussex Police so that they can get a clear picture of what is happening in our parks and take appropriate action based on the facts.

Call 999 if there is a crime in progress or there is imminent danger.

Call 101 if a crime has finished or antisocial behaviour is taking place.

We are helping to spread the word as part of REPORT iT, a local grassroots campaign led by the newly formed Preston Park and Fiveways Local Action Team (PPFLAT). Local Action Teams are resident-led and focus on community priorities in specific areas.

PPFLAT provides the space for local residents, organisations, businesses and groups in Preston Park Ward to join the dots and collaborate on projects around local community issues. To find out more or take part, drop a line to ppflat1@gmail.com.

This  August 14th and 15th, enjoy the Central and Eastern Brighton Community Garden Trail:

Albion Community Garden, 11 am to 5 pm, Albion Street BN2 9PP

Ardingly Court, 11 am to 5 pm, High Street BN2 1SR

Kemptown Community Garden, Sat 10 am to 1 pm, Sun 3 pm to 5 pm, Upper Bedford Street BN2 1JP

Leach Court Communal Gardens, Sun 1 pm to 5 pm, Leach Court, Eastern Road BN2 0DJ

London Road Station Partnership, Sat 10 am to 3.30 pm, London Road Station, Shaftesbury Place BN1 4QS

St George’s Bee-Friendly Garden, Sat 10 am to 3 pm, St George’s Road and Paston Place BN2 1 ED

Warwick Mount Garden, Sat 11 am to 2 pm, Montague Street BN2 1YJ

White Street Community Garden, 11 am to 3 pm, Edward Street and White Street BN2 0JH

Rose Jones took these lovely photos of the flowers in the park:

In 2016/17, the city council and Cityparks agreed to start the process of transferring sports facilities in parks to sports clubs and user groups in order to ensure the future viability of these facilities.

Self-management of sports facilities has proved to be very successful, with clubs and other organisations generally able to offer better facilities at little or no cost to the council.

Preston Park is one of the facilities that the Council is considering transferring.

You can have your say on this here:

Brighton & Hove City Council: Tennis Clubs Consultation

 

Britain’s elms have been devastated by a deadly disease. Brighton is the last stronghold in the south. But even there it’s a constant battle for survival.

Film by Tim Friend

Do you enjoy the outdoors and talking to young people? Are you community-oriented? Do you want to help young people enjoy the local parks safely? Could you do street-based youth work?

The Local Action Team for Preston Park and Fiveways is seeking volunteers interested in working with the community to help make our parks safe for our young people over the summer and beyond.

If you’re interested, please come along to the first, exploratory meeting facilitated by youth workers from the Trust for Developing Communities

When: Monday, 5 July 2021, 6 pm
Where: Preston Park Clock Tower
Contact: Let us know if you can come at ppflat@gmail.com

PPFLAT is the Preston Park and Fiveways Local Action Group. Local Action Teams are resident-led and focus on specific areas, in our case the Preston Ward, to provide the space for local residents, organisations, businesses and groups to collaborate on projects that benefit the immediate community by addressing local issues. It is open to all residents, as well as businesses, schools, sports clubs, local government organisations and Friends groups like us. The three local councillors and our team of three Police Community Support Officers also actively attend meetings.

The first project that the group is working on is anti-social behaviour in Blakers and Preston Parks. These include some nasty incidents in both parks in recent weeks, including a mugging and more serious assaults, as well as endemic graffiti on our heritage buildings and most other surfaces. The project will focus on reporting anti-social behaviour and crime as soon as possible so that more police resources will be focused on the parks. Unless people report incidents, we will not have the police manpower to deal with anti-social behaviour. The campaign will launch with posters and communications soon.

If you would like to take part and achieve positive change together in our Park, please contact ppflat1@gmail.com. The PPFLAT welcomes any individual local resident who wishes to take part and contribute comments and ideas. Community safety in our parks is very important especially at a time when we all value our outdoor green spaces more than ever.

Brighton & Hove City Council and the Brighton & Hove Green Spaces Forum have published this map showing the special trees in the area, including Preston Park.

Special Trees of Brighton & Hove (PDF)

According to The Argus, Brighton and Hove provides the best opportunities in the country for children to play tennis and numbers in Preston Park have doubled.

See the Argus article