Our park is the heart of our community and the fenced space by the ponds the heart of the park. We want to make this beautiful with meadow flowers but still keep it accessible and safe for "forest school" sessions where the adjacent Playclub and local nurseries can bring their children to get up close and personal with the bio-diversity we will create. Such a wild-life haven will delight the eyes of everyone walking through the Park and the rich insect-life provide a food source for birds and the resident bats. The younger children's play area in the park is so well used and well loved that the ground surface needs some toughening up with exciting sounding TigerMulch. The second stage or our project is to get the funds to pay for this permanent improvement to the Park's play facilities. If we can raise enough money - we aim also for an awning for the south side of the Playclub to diversify their outside space.

What we'll deliver:

• Glendale to rotovate the fenced area to prepare it for planting
• Purchase of high quality meadow seeds and plugs
• Organising a meadow-planting work-day with the local community and backers
• Creating bird scarers to keep the seeds safe until they germinate
• Installing TigerMulch surfacing in the younger children's play area
• Installing an awning on the south side of the Playclub

Why it's a great idea:

The restoration of rich meadow-land in the fenced area by the pond will create greatly enhance the facilities of this local park. In an inner-city area where many of the houses are converted into flats without garden space it is important for our children to have access to wild-life habitats. This project and the links being created with the Playclub and others such as Oakhill Community Nursery facilitates this. Likewise the younger children's play area, created as part of the lottery funded parks restoration project 20 years ago, has been a victim of its own success with very heavy usage degrading the grass, turning it into a mud-bath in prolonged wet weather. The proposal to resurface this space will make it an all year round creative play resource for local families. Conversely the south wall of the Playclub is a sun-trap in summer, and with extra funds an awning would provide UV protection and make this space usable, adding to the facilities of this volunteer managed building.

Steps to get it done:

• Meadow: Rotovate and prepare the soil in the meadow area Summer 2021
• Meadow: Hold a planting day (or two, or three) Autumn 2021
• Meadow: A "Celebration Day" (with stalls and events outside the planted area) Summer 2022
• Play Area: Removal of existing grass matting and disposal from site
• Play Area: Laying of compacted stone sub-surface
• Play Area: Laying of Tiger Mulch surfacing

A small sample of the fabulous support on our local Facebook page. Such a lovely idea. We were just walking through the park, admiring the wildlife and wondering what’s happening to the children’s play areas - all parts of both parks much loved and appreciated! Yes! I’d love to see a wildlife meadow, to have some rich biodiversity at the centre of our community Great news - local parks are even more valuable in lockdown! Such a great idea, especially at a time when every opportunity to encourage biodiversity matters. So many benefits all round! What a fantastic idea! More wildlife and beauty please As well as being pretty, a meadow will be helping all the insects that are in decline An important addition to the park as the parks need more pollinators in general We need meadows in such a densely built-up area. I fully support this! I support this idea. Especially important in this new dystopia we find ourselves in This would be SO amazing. Fully support! 100% behind this - nice one.