FIDO visits Mayow Park 30th July 2015

I found FIDO and his handler Steve this morning at 9.30 in Mayow Park. They were in the grass area around the dawn redwood tree searching for animal faeces.
FIDO is a specialist dog fouling removal machine (Faeces Intake Disposal Operation), an all-terrain cart able to collect 240 litres of animal mess using its powerful vacuum tube to suck up the mess and into a stainless steel container. And if FIDO cannot get into any corners, Steve comes along with his special poo pick-up stick.

I joined FIDO and Steve for a few minutes to see what we could find in just this small area of the park. Today it seems the main contributions were from the local foxes and these were swiftly picked up. I know families like to picnic in this shady space so it is useful that FIDO comes to visit.
Unfortunately FIDO cannot visit as often as Steve would like because they have to go to other parks in the borough.

Meet FIDO the faeces collection machine

specialist faeces pick-up stick

Thank you to FIDO and Steve for your efforts to keep the park clean.

THREE new lidded bins for Mayow Park 20th July 2015

What a busy Monday morning for the Glendale maintenance team. While two members of the team put up signs in the Triangle, two more arrived with three bins on their van.

One of the dog walkers saw the bins still wrapped up on the van, smiled and said it had made his day!

Most of the open bins were replaced last year with lidded bins. This made a huge difference to the general cleanliness of the park as foxes, crows and squirrels found it harder to get to the litter while they scavenged for food waste and scattered rubbish everywhere. However we still had a few well-used open bins which generated strewn rubbish so we put in a special request for replacements.
With  budgets for parks reduced significantly, we thought the Friends might have to do some fund-raising but Glendale came to our aid. There was a small amount left from the purchase and installation of the outdoor gym and trim trail and the need for bins was a high priority so Glendale agreed to use those funds to help us in our efforts to look after the park. Thank you to Dave and Lee for installing the new bins. They are much appreciated.

team Glendale digging out the foundations of an old open bin

Our regular, responsible dog walkers were particularly pleased about the new bins.
Not only do they throw away  bagged dog waste from their own dogs, they also pick up dog waste that some less responsible dog owners ignore! AND they collect rubbish carelessly left by some others such as cans, cartons, crisp packets and plenty of cigarette stubs. What a credit they are to the park.

One delighted dog owner hides behind bin, watched by bemused dog.

Glendale put up signs in the Triangle 20th July 2015

The start of the school holidays was a good opportunity to do some positive maintenance in Mayow Park. Glendale  manage the public parks in Lewisham  
http://www.glendale-services.co.uk/about/Case-Studies/glendale-lewisham-partnership
Glendale sent their maintenance team to  the park first thing on Monday morning.

Two of the team set to work to put up interpretation boards with signs in the Triangle, so that park visitors will better understand the spaces that Friends of Mayow Park and other park users look after. We have the compost area, the mini wildflower meadow, the herb garden and the fruit garden.

We have three black compost bins for our garden waste

Visitors  like to pick raspberries and smell the herbs. Children like to step on the stepping logs in the fruit garden. Many people meander along the woodchip path beside the Dawn Redwood tree or along the path through the herb garden.

Fruit garden sign with stepping logs behind

The herb garden includes cardoon, which resemble artichokes. The bees love the flowers of this tall plant. Sometimes is gets top-heavy with flowers and falls over!

sign in front of drooping cardoon plant

Glendale van parked nearby

Steve and Leon wasted no time in getting the job done. Thank you guys!

Thank you to Steve and Leon

Lark in the Park 18th July 2015

Thanks to the Perry Vale ward assembly there was a successful 'Lark in the Park' community event in Mayow Park today. It was organised by Sarah Lang, the coordinator for Perry Vale ward.
Mayow Park sits within Perry Vale ward, at the boundary with Sydenham ward. It is great that Perry Vale has this one park within their ward and it is a much loved park regardless of artificial Council ward boundaries.

stall for Perry Vale Assembly

The Young Lewisham Project  http://www.younglewisham.org.uk/    had a stall selling hand-made items such as furniture, made by young people. They were also providing a cycle maintenance and safety check. It was good to see that all the Perry Vale ward councillors were there, mingling with other park users.

Young Lewisham Project with PV  Councillors

YLP talking to visitors at  Lark in  the Park event

Face painting proved very popular, with parents and children waiting patiently in a queue. As well as story telling and a teddy bears' picnic, there were plenty of other activities to keep children happy.
As always, the cafe was open and doing a roaring trade in hot and cold drinks.
It was good to see the ice-cream man at his pitch near the children's play area. He has been at our park for quite a few years and is another pair of eyes and ears, helping to keep the park a popular and safe space for people to enjoy.
And  the Caribbean Mix cricketers were also playing a match today. So the park was really buzzing with people.

What a lovely day for a lark in the park.

Microchip dogs event 15th July 2015

A free event for dog owners took place in Mayow Park on Wednesday 15th July 2015. This proved popular and quite a few of our regular dog walkers attended. Dogs were able to get a free microchip and ID tag engraving, to help put dogs and owners back together in the event of a dog being lost. From April 2016 all dogs in England will be required by law to be microchipped.

Members of Lewisham Staff who ran this event in Mayow Park

Poster publicity for the event

We got a mention in Nature Conservation Lewisham blog

Nature's Gym volunteers have been helping  us at the Triangle beds over the past four or five years. Their last visit was on 18th June and we got a mention on blog!

http://natureconservationlewisham.co.uk/2015/06/23/natures-gym-at-mayow-park-2/

 If this link does not work, copy and past it.