My litter picking adventure by Matilda

 The Friends of Mayow Park committee found out that some of our younger park users care enough about the park that they decided to do something about the litter problem. Read Matilda's report below. Would you be willing to take part in Matilda's suggestion for a monthly litter-pick?

We welcome posts from children who want to improve Mayow Park for everyone to enjoy.

My name's Matilda and I live very close to Mayow Park in Adamsrill Road. It's my favourite park because I know all of the names of most of the dogs, everyone in the park says hello to you, and there are lots of places to explore.

But recently I noticed that there has been more and more horrible litter being dropped, particularly in the areas where me and my friends like to explore, in the trees along the sides of the park.

So I decided to do something about it. First of all I asked for a litter picking stick for Christmas, which I got, and then I got a group of friends together who were also annoyed at the litter. This group was made up of twins Rosanna & Zander, Jessica, Prue and Barnaby.

Matilda's Christmas present

We collected 5 big bags of rubbish just from one side of the park alone, in the beautiful green trees, and 2 refuse sacks full. 

I think there should be one day a month when everyone who enjoys the park should come and pick some litter up, at least one bag. You don't even need a litter picking stick, my Grandad says you can use a stick with a nail in the end.

A small selection of rubbish collected

Oh and also, please stop walking on the lovely flowers, my brother is 2 and gets very upset and recently started an argument with a grown man about it!

Matilda. 6.

Path edging and seed sowing

A garden looks well maintained when it has a clear boundary between plant bed and paths. There are all sorts of suitable edging materials including a rustic  look using lengths of logs or the more formal look using floor boards or brick edges. Friends of Mayow Park look after a herb bed we call The Triangle near the cafe and the old timber path edging is mostly rotted now.
This morning Mike and Alona used recycled floor boards to replace some of the rotted timber. We were happy with the outcome but could do with more boards to complete the task another time.

We also sowed seeds: lupins, sweet peas and nasturtiums.  These, if they grow, will add colour when the forget-me-not and self-heal have finished flowering.

FLOWERS in the Triangle bed

Photos taken today of the flowering plants in the Triangle bed, a space looked after by Friends of Mayow Park.
Rosemary
Self-heal (Prunella vulgaris)
Forget-me-not (Myosotis)