Posts Tagged ‘David Hammond’

Making our space special

Posted on 23rd September 2011 by

court hey parkThe Friends of Court Hey Park – whose project to improve their local community space completed earlier this month – tell how their work has made a difference. Thanks to group chair Rita Walker and facilitator Dave Hammond for the article.

 

Court Hey Park, on the border of Liverpool and Knowsley, is one of Knowsley’s best-loved parks. Its 14 hectares contain the National Wildflower Centre and, until the 1950s, a mansion house owned by Robertson Gladstone, elder brother of Prime Minister William Gladstone. It has a fine selection of mature trees, a bowling green, cricket pitch and play area, topped off with a Green Flag Award.

Another of the park’s great assets is a Friends group dedicated to improving the park and encouraging an appreciation of its history. Earlier this year they organised a theatre event in the park telling the story of the mansion house, based on a book by one of the Friends, Dave Roberts.

How do you improve a park like this?

One way is to make sure that people know that it’s there and can walk round in all weathers without getting muddy!

Some of the paths in the park were unsurfaced and turned to mud in the winter. A key entrance was hidden away so that you could walk past without knowing a park existed and there was a wicked chicane to get past. The problems this caused became obvious when one of the Friends started using a mobility scooter and could no longer get into the park using that entrance.

A £49,999 Community Spaces grant paid for new paths, new entrances and signage that will help more people get in and enjoy the park. It will enable local residents to walk across the park to school, even in winter, and creates a circular walk for all visitors to enjoy.

An activity and celebration event on September 14 saw children from three local primary schools helping to put the finishing touches to the project, planting hundreds of wildflowers in the park with staff from the National Wildflower Centre and Knowsley Ranger Service. Their hard work was rewarded with an afternoon of fun activities. Knowsley’s Mayor, Coun Christine O’Hare, declared the new paths and other improvements officially open.

Rita Walker, Chair of the Friends of Court Hey Park, says: “The Launch was a great success with the children enjoying the planting in the morning, they collected loads of conkers too which added to their pleasure. My thanks to Jan Pell and her team from The Wildflower Centre for organising it so successfully.

“The afternoon was enjoyed by the children all getting a turn at the various activities: card making, face painting (teachers too), circus skills and storytelling. The event ended with refreshments and congratulations from the teachers for a great day.

“The Friends are delighted with the improvements to the park. I have enjoyed talking to park users to get their reaction; everyone is very pleased with the improvements. Many thanks from The Friends of Court Hey Park to Community Spaces for giving us the opportunity to make improvements so sorely needed. It has made everything worthwhile for us.”

You can follow the Friends on their website www.courtheypark.co.uk

Posted on 23rd September 2011 by
Tags: , , ,
Posted in North West, Open spaces, Parks | No Comments »

A grand finale for Northwood Community Allotments!

Posted on 14th September 2010 by

Another fantastic Community Spaces project launched over the bank holiday weekend to celebrate the opening of their new project. Northwood Community Allotments received over £35,000 from the Community Spaces fund to improve their community garden. David Hammond, the groups Facilitator, reflects on the groups launch event.

 Circus skills workshops, a BBQ and a DJ; what more could you want at a launch event!  Well, how about Miss Fusion, a 9 foot-tall stilt walker dressed as a flower?  All of this – and more – was part of a fantastic community afternoon to celebrate the opening of the Northwood Community Garden in Kirkby on Merseyside.

 The August bank holiday stayed dry (!) and hundreds of people came to see the Mayoress, Cllr Diane Reid, cut the traditional red ribbon to get the afternoon underway.   The music kept people coming all afternoon to try their luck on the tombola, see the snakes and other animals brought along by the Knowsley Council ranger service, and enjoy a BBQ burger.

 The afternoon was a great tribute to the hard work of the Northwood Mums group who, with the support of local councillors, have transformed the site with £35,000 of Community Spaces funding.

Originally an expanse of bare grass used for fly-tipping and suffering anti social behaviour, the site now has paths, benches, planted borders and raised beds.  The improvements have been planned to encourage people to use the site and provide places for learning about plants and wildlife.

 The extensive planting around the site was done entirely by the group and local children.  Getting the kids involved has really paid off: when preschool children pulled some of the plants out, the older kids just planted them back again.  The crocodile bench has been a real success; children have even been spotted doing their homework on it on sunny afternoons after school.

 For me as a Community Spaces facilitator, the Northwood Mums have been an inspirational group to work with.  Even before this project, they created a thriving allotment site from scratch.  Now the Community Garden has turned a wasteland into an attractive community asset.  I can’t wait to see what they do next!

 To see more fantastic pictures of the groups launch event, click here.

Posted on 14th September 2010 by
Tags: , , , , , , , ,
Posted in Events, North West, Uncategorized | 2 Comments »

Bringing the beach to Prescot!

Posted on 23rd August 2010 by

 

Bryer Road Environmental Group celebrated the opening of their new natural play area in style by throwing a fun filled launch event. The group’s facilitator, David Hammond, reflects on how the play area has been transformed.

The hard work by the Bryer Road Environmental Group (BEG) in Prescot, Knowsley, has been rewarded this month with the launch of a natural play area which brings the beach to the centre of Prescot.

The natural play area is the third and final phase of a landscape master plan created back in 2001 with the help of local Groundwork Trust, Groundwork Merseyside.

A Surestart-funded children’s playground was the first phase of the project, sited behind the Bryer Road Community Centre.  A community garden & outdoor education area (used regularly by the children of nearby St Mary and St Pauls schools) was phase two. 

The natural play area – paid for with £35,000 of Community Spaces funding – is the third and most ambitious phase of the project.  It provides a range of challenging and fun equipment for both young and older children, including a wooden climbing frame, a tunnel, lookout post and boulder slope.   Rather than rubber or wood chip, the surface under the climbing frame is play sand, which is proving a hit with the local children.

Parents and tired children can enjoy taking a break on some very special benches.  Carved from solid logs with a chainsaw, the benches feature an array of wildlife.  Woodlice and centipedes crawl across the surface and a mole, dormouse and owl are just some of the creatures that peer out of the timber.

At the launch event, the face painting was as popular as ever.  And so a parade of young vampires, superheroes and animals enjoyed herb planting with the charity Landlife (based at the nearby National Wildflower Centre), jewellery making and a bouncy castle.  The mayors of Whiston and Prescot both visited to be shown around the play area by the BEG members.

Local residents enjoying the sunshine thought the new play area was fantastic.  One lady said ‘It’s like bringing the beach into Prescot. We will bring buckets and spades and stay all day.’

To see the fantastic photos from the launch event, visit our Flickr page.

Posted on 23rd August 2010 by
Tags: , , , , , ,
Posted in Events, Uncategorized | No Comments »

The final piece to Blacon Community Trust’s project has been laid

Posted on 14th July 2010 by

This month saw the finishing of the Blacon Greenway and Old Station project that was funded by the Community Spaces programme. Facilitator David Hammond describes the transformation of the old Station site.

The final piece was quite literally laid this month in a regeneration project that has turned a grot spot into a gateway that is bringing pride to the local community.  

A railway line used to connect Blacon to the nearby city of Chester and Connah’s Quay on the Welsh coast.  The railway closed decades ago, leaving behind the site of the old station.  This sat neglected and unloved for years, a haven for weeds, litter and anti social behaviour. 

The coming of a Sustrans cycle route brought the railway route back into use, but it has taken the dedication of volunteers from Blacon Community Trust and £85k of money from WREN and Community Spaces to transform the site.  Stephen Perry deserves a special mention as the tireless volunteer project manager whose efforts have inspired hundreds of local people to get involved in the project.

The site has been themed around its railway heritage, with signs, fencing and benches that echo the age of steam.  Access improvements, planting and chainsaw sculptures mean that everyone can now find something to enjoy in the peace and quiet of the Old Station site, just two minutes from the heart of Blacon.

Most of the work was finished last December and was celebrated with a Christmas event complete with mince pies, Santa and snow.  But the centrepiece of the site was unveiled this month: a colourful mosaic containing 1,500 individual tiles! 

One thousand tiles were handmade by children at the five nearby primary schools, along with local community groups.  On Saturday 10 July, to coincide with the Blacon Festival, some of the children who had helped create the mosaic revealed it to an expectant crowd which included the Lord Mayor, Cllr Neil Ritchie.

The amazing mosaic is four metres across.  It brings together 120 years of history, with one half representing a train wheel and the other a bicycle wheel.  These bring together the past and present, linking the railway with the national cycle route that now runs through the site.

 As a Community Spaces facilitator, all of the projects that I am involved with are special.  It is always a privilege to work with people who are so passionate about transforming their local areas.  This project stands out because of the almost obsessive detail and sheer effort that has gone into making a unique piece of artwork.

Posted on 14th July 2010 by
Tags: , , , ,
Posted in Events, North West | No Comments »