Friends of Preston Park

Peter is Community Pay-back Supervisor, which involves organising work for groups of up to eight offenders at a time. He often works in Preston Park on Fridays in areas like the cycle velodrome and the Rock Garden as well as the main park.

What do you like about the job?
The variety. I work in a variety of locations and we undertake a variety of work. I work with people from a range of different backgrounds – it can sometimes be challenging.

What contributions have you made to the park?
Well, in about 18 months we’ve painted all the railings, taken the suckers off around 20 elm trees, swept and litter-picked various areas including the velodrome and the parking roads, as well as things like collecting flints from the walls in the velodrome so they can be re-used. The team has cleared the waterfall in the Rock Garden of debris so that it can begin to work again and we’ve done weeding and coppicing.

Best thing about the park?
It’s used so widely by so many different people. Other parks don’t have the same usage that Preston Park has.

Ambitions for the park?
I think the maintenance of the Rock Garden is very important. It is a stunning entrance to the city and contains some important plants.

Thank you Peter!

On Tuesday 23rd August, Sue Shepherd, Vice-Chair of the Friends of Preston Park was interviewed by Melita Dennett on radio Reverb. In this recording of the show, Sue explains how PrestFest came about and what it is aiming to achieve.

We’ve organised a summer festival!!!

. . . And it’s because of you. You may remember we conducted a survey last year. One of the questions was ‘What sort of events would you like to see being held in the park?’ Your responses made it clear that a local, fun summer fete would be the most popular, so here it is. We would love to see you there.

Go to our PrestFest page to see a full list of what will be happening on the day.

George is Gardens Manager for the grounds of Preston Manor; that’s the area to the north of the north park road including the churchyard, walled garden, wildlife area and beds. He helps out in the rest of the park as and when needed; for instance, he’ll be helping in the Rose Garden soon.

George has had the role for 11 years before which he was at the Kipling Gardens in Rottingdean and he was also foreman at the Royal Pavilion Gardens.

What do you like about the job?
Just about everything – there’s nothing to dislike!

What contribution do you make to the park?
I’ve seen a lot of changes. I suppose the obvious thing is the Walled Garden. When I arrived in the job contractors were laying foundations [the gardens were being rejuvenated following the award of a grant] so the garden was started from scratch. I didn’t design it but I double-dug the lot and planted it up with the help of the volunteers.

What’s the best thing about the park?
The best thing is the diversity of uses: so many different people use it for so many different things. It’s such a welcoming area.

And your ambitions for the park?
One day I’d like to see one big team operating together so that we can all muck in together and sort out all the areas of the park.

Things have taken an upward turn since the Friends of Preston Park got going; there are more new ideas coming in for the park.

Thank you George!

Tim Richardson has worked on grounds maintenance in the park for 16 years.

What do you like about the job?
I like being outdoors. Love doing sports; that is, marking out the pitches for things like football, softball etc. I enjoy planting the beds with designs by local children. Bed 8 won ‘best bed’ in the city this summer – bed 5 came second.

What contribution do you make to the park?
I keep the pitches going.

What is the best thing about the park?
The walk between the tennis courts. The new planting has been a great success and, although I didn’t design it, I had a lot to do with planting it up.

What are your ambitions for the park?
Personally, I like formality in the park. I’d like to see borders with appropriate fences so that people (and dogs) can clearly see where they can and can’t go. I’d like more people working in the park so that all jobs can be completed to our satisfaction.

Thank you Tim!

Anne Meadows, Mayor of Brighton and Hove, seen here with Tony Benton, Chair of Friends of Preston Park, today opened the new petanque terrain in Preston Park. The terrain was laid by City Parks in response to the wishes of park users, as collected in the survey conducted by the Friends in 2010.

The Mayor said:

“Today we are opening this petanqe terrain for all residents of Brighton and Hove. The council is always keen to provide new opportunities for residents to exercise and enjoy the outdoors. When it was decided to decommission the bowling green that used to stand here, we wanted to replace it with another sporting facility.

At the same time the newly formed Friends of Preston Park were asked what should replace the bowling green. Rather than just provide solutions that suited their individual needs, the friends group went to great lengths to consult the whole community via a questionnaire, and the most popular option was a petanque terrain, which the council were only too happy to provide, so great thanks for this should go to the friends group. By throwing this first boule, I declare the terrain open.”

The terrain will be open for play between April and September and anyone is welcome to play. Boules can be borrowed for free from the Cubby Hole at The Women’s Bowls Pavilion, on payment of a £20 deposit.

You may remember the pond by the Rotunda was full of tadpoles. They are now weeny frogs and Paul Baron emailed these pics of them – small but perfectly formed!

As a police community support officer (PCSO), I work on the front line of your local force, providing a visible and reassuring presence on the streets and tackling anti-social behaviour.

I have many responsibilities within this role. They include patrolling a beat (in my case Preston Park and Prestonville). I interact with the public, while also offering assistance to police officers.

The main roles of a PCSO are to:

• deal with minor offences
• offer early intervention to deter people from committing offences
• provide support for front-line policing
• conduct house-to-house enquiries
• guard crime scenes
• provide crime prevention advice

The boundaries of my beat are Preston Park Avenue and Beaconsfield Road to the East, Dyke Road and Tivoli Crescent to the West, Clermont Road and Harrington Road to the North and New England Road to the South. Centrally located is the wonderful Preston Park. I often patrol Preston Park and hold a street briefing at the Chalet Cafe within the Park.

To the East of Preston Park is Fiveways. The local PCSO for Fiveways is Erica Harkness.