2013: What we've done, what we're doing

FOMP's year begins ...

with an AGM, where volunteers are elected for the essential roles of Chair, Secretary and Treasurer, (Alona, Sue & Hilary) and there are also brief formal reports. This year FOMP is looking for more volunteers for handle communications, sports liaison, co-ordinating volunteers working on the Pavilion triangle and orchard, events, and representing the interests of dog-walkers, young people and families.

At the AGM, held February 19th, Tim Lund volunteered for the communications role, while Alona undertook to continue her work on the Triangle and orchard. So that still leaves us looking for sporty, young eventful family-oriented dog-walkers - well, you understand - doesn't have to be just one person, in fact, the more the merrier!

Other news ... 

• FOMP celebrates 20 years this spring, and a small celebration will mark the occasion. 
• Mayow, Sydenham Wells and Home Park Parks, in three different wards (Perry Vale, Sydenham, and Bellingham) through their User Groups have set up a forum to share common concerns. There will be a three parks walk some time in June. 
• 5th March 2013 will mark the long anticipated start of work - site set up, fencing, etc. - for the refurbishment of the pavilion, working closely with Iris to ensure minimal disruption to Grow Mayow. It is hoped to complete by end of June 2013, but damp rot in the building and stagnant water in the basement are possible risk factors. There would be weekly meetings with the contractors. 
• There will be two cricket clubs using Mayow Park as a base - Streatham and Marlborough and Caribbean Mix - and provisional match dates have now been published. Caribbean Mix were also proposing a week long cricket event in the first week of September. Glendale are working on changing facilities for the period before the completion of the pavilion. 
• Further sports activities planned are:
•  Junior football – midweek Primary Years 3 and 4 
• Midweek school use – Sports days 
• Park Active – half-terms and summer holidays run by TeachSport (free activities) 
• Park Run – Paul Harper was looking to encourage a weekly 5k run, currently held at Hilly Fields. The use of the cafe would help a lot with this,
• a potential cycle event, and not forgetting
• regular usage of the tennis courts and bowls green 
• Sydenham Arts Festival - we look forward to again hosting an event as part of the Sydenham Arts Festival

The Way Forward for FOMP 

Those attending the meeting were asked to write down their thoughts on the following questions:

• What do you think are the best features of Mayow Park?
• What is disappointing about Mayow Park?
• What do you see as the roles for Friends of Mayow Park?
• What will encourage more people to become involved with FOMP?

We hope to publish the results of this survey in due course.

Dog Activity Day - Mayow Park, Thursday 21 Feb

★ Agility sessions by Battersea Dogs & Cats Home ★
★ Bring your dog along and give them a workout ★
★ Robert Alleyne, star of TV’s Dog Borstal, will be giving out competition prizes ★
★ Free microchipping and tag engraving ★
Under 14s must be accompanied by an adult.
Dogs must be kept on a lead at all times
For more information call 020 8314 2098 or visit www.lewisham.gov.uk
In association with Battersea Dogs & Cats Home and the RSPCA

Mayow Park Proposed Cricket Fixtures 2013

Click on this fixtures list to see it magnified!

Anyone wishing to find out more about cricket in Mayow Park and how to make pitch bookings should contact the Glendale office on 020 8318 3968

FOMP AGM Tues 19 Feb 2013

The FOMP  Meeting which was due to take place on 19th January 2013 was postponed on the day because cold weather and icy pavements do not attract people to meetings.
The rescheduled FOMP Annual General Meeting  will be followed by a General Meeting and will  take place on Tuesday 19th February, staring at 7pm for a prompt finish at 8.30pm.
The AGM will be kept short.
The General Meeting will include discussions on the proposed Pavilion renovation, sports activities, the bowls club, the orchard and the Pavilion Triangle garden and thoughts for future activities.

Are there events you would like to see in the park?
Would you be interested in organising a community event?
This year also sees the 20th anniversary of the Friends group, which began life in 1993 as Mayow Park Users Group.

BULB PLANTING IN THE TRIANGLE December 2012

Two bulb planting sessions in Mayow Park on 8th December and 16th December with regular park users joining in. On 8th December a mother and her two children helped to plant 140 fritillaria around the holly tree and sitting logs near the path on the southern side of the Triangle.

The  holly trees  (left & right of  picture in middle distance)

A brother and sister planted fritillaria

A dad and his sons planted irises

16th December was a dry and sunny winter's day with plenty of visitors in the park. Two volunteers planted more fritillaries and some snowdrops by the holly tree and sitting logs on the north-eastern side of the Triangle. A father with his two sons were passing by and they joined in to plant irises on the slope by the Bowls club, on the western side of the Triangle to the right of the manhole cover and behind the silver birch trees. We have more bulbs to plant as soon as possible.

Updates

It has been a while since the last post and I am very aware that Friends of Mayow Park  need a communications officer with available time to keep the FOMP blog up to date and lively.
Going back to Friday 12th October , we had a very successful workday working alongside Glendale's grounds maintenance team. They went about their planned work in the park but also helped the Mayow Park volunteers.

Glendale staff help to mulch fruit trees

The orchard: One task that day was to mulch round the outside of the fencing of the orchard trees in order to keep down weeds. It is important not to mulch over the graft join of each tree as this may cause the tree to grow suckers which are likely to be different to the fruit tree variety we are growing, hence the reason for ensuring the mulch was outside the fencing. While  the mulching was going on, some volunteers were busily removing weeds in the tree pits.

volunteer digging and weeding

Meanwhile, at the Triangle, volunteers were busily dead-heading, removing dead plants, pulling up bindweed and tidying up the herb bed. A start was made on the larger bed, containing fruit bushes and various flowering plants, but there was not the time to do a thorough job there.
Glendale staff kindly helped with the weeding and clearing.

Glendale staff removing vegetation by rockery

The highlight of the day was Glendale's work clearing the huge amount of plant growth adjacent to our new drinking water fountain to reveal a rock wall, which is part of the retaining wall to the bowls site. I remember many years ago when my children were small, that they used to enjoy clambering onto that wall. It will make a good rockery area, so please get back to me with suggestions of what to grow or any donations of suitable plants.
The park volunteers put in around 2 hours of work and when we left Glendale continued their work, strimming, cutting the grass and general grounds maintenance.

 I must thank Glendale for agreeing this one-off joint session. I believe we ALL enjoyed the opportunity of working in partnership.

FOMP quarterly meeting 9 Oct 2012 + orchard

The next quarterly meeting of the Friends of Mayow Park will be on Tuesday 9th October 2012, from 7 to 8.30pm. Find out what has been happening in the park since our previous meeting and what is planned over the coming months. We hope to hear from Lewisham and Glendale officers and to get an update on plans and timescale for renovating the pavilion.
The meeting will be held at the Dacres Wood Field Centre, entrance down the un-named drive between Homefield House and Catling Close.

Also, a reminder of our autumn work session at the community orchard on Friday 12th October between 10am and midday. Do join us to do some work around the trees. If you have a trowel and gardening gloves please bring them with you.