February 2020

It's a great place, YOUR community space

Thanks for supporting 'On Yer Bike' week. Forward Motion, funders of the Old Spokes Home embraced the week and came along most days with e-bikes for adults, offer of training for kiddlywinks on balance bikes and for mums and dads who needed a brush up on their peddling skills. The weather was a mixed bag with storm Ciara and Dennis causing some disruption but in true community spirit the show goes on! 

What's the hubbub all about?

Community Fridge: It's coming really soon! - Join us on Tuesday 3rd March at 4.30pm to 6pm for some nibbles and a chat about the project. 

The initiative is being led by Miranda Godfrey, Historic Food Developer & Lecturer and chef Andy Gray in partnership with high street supermarkets, Marks and Spencer and Lidl who currently donate perishable food to the community through the Neighbourly initiative. Miranda said," We are very excited to start this new community project at Hardie Park. We will be meeting for a chat and a cuppa, providing food samples prepared from donated food and sharing cooking tips with everyone. Please come along! It’s the first of its kind in Thurrock and we would love for you to embrace the idea and understand what your new community fridge is all about.’

The project will run every Tuesday and Thursday from 4.30pm to 6pm and we'd love for anyone interested in saving food from landfill to get in touch. The project is actively seeking volunteers, the new role will include tasks such as organising food, picking up donations in the park van, promoting the innovative idea and taking part in food hygiene training. If this is something you would like to be involved with, come along on launch night or register interest on the Volunteer link on the Hardie Park website. www.friendsofhardiepark.co.uk/volunteer

REGISTER HERE IF YOU WANT TO BE PART OF THIS EXCITING NEW PROJECT

To read more about the idea of community fridges check out www.hubbub.org.uk 

Wow, the whale's back!

The Hardie Park subway mural that was fire damaged at the end of last year has been repaired this week.

Massive thanks goes to:

• The talented artist, John Bulley who provided his time free of charge,
• Trevor Hutchinson, Head of Planning at DP World London Gateway who funded and arranged the repair.
• Henderson and Taylor who provided the traffic management for the subway closure on short notice and free of charge.
• The ladies in the café who kept John topped up with tea and provided him with a bucket and cleaning equipment whilst re-creating the artwork.

Trevor Hutchinson, Head of Planning at DPWLG, said ‘I had opportunity to pop into the café and love the new seating area with the log burner. The whole park was also buzzing with activity and it’s so nice to see how much its improved since FOHP became involved.’

Aah thanks Trevor! Now the subway entrance to the park is spick and span too. Thank you for arranging and over-seeing the repair, it looks amazing.

Old Spokes are recruiting...

The Hardie Cycle Hub  is recruiting a Cycle Maintenance Supervisor!

If you feel that this position would be a good fit for you please send a CV to:

info@friendsofhardiepark.co.uk

Ross lent a hand to Dan the local BMX champ

Ross received a surprise visit from Dan Butler local C2 Paracyclist and BMX trickster whose mountain bike needed some attention last week. A quick fix in the cycle hub and a grateful Dan. He left a great message on facebook following his visit. 'Thanks for everything you do down there! Most definitely the place my career started! With out Hardie Park I wouldn't have been able to get as good as I am on that bike today!'

Keep up the good work Dan, we love seeing your clips on instagram. @disabled_dan

Don't forget it's the last few weeks for Tesco Bags of Help who are supporting the Cycle Hub as one of their three chosen local causes for the first quarter of 2020. We are very grateful for the blue tokens coming our way. Keep 'em coming :0)

Bringing people together

If you've got a neighbour or member of the family that is isolated, maybe doesn't go out much please tell them about Hardie Park. We're open 7 days a week and there's always someone to pass the time of day with. They might just enjoy a walk down and a coffee or get involved in a club that's going on. There's a lot of hours in a day and it's nice to share some with company if you are alone. Maybe you are a carer and feel isolated - come down for a cuppa and a chat. Our door is always open! We're dog friendly too!

Volunteering for all

Volunteer because you want to...
Volunteer for your D of E hours...
Volunteer to enhance your CV...
Volunteer for catering experience...
You could be at school, college, at home, kids at school, spare time, want to give something back, want to meet new people, get out of the house, keep your hand in the workplace once retired. The reasons are endless and the rewards are huge.
https://www.friendsofhardiepark.co.uk/volunteer/

The cafe team, staff and current volunteers would love to welcome you on board. It's fun, why not consider joining the team!

Tons of Terracycle items being saved from landfill!

Thanks folks for bringing your 40 kgs pet pouches to the dedicated bins at the park. Pleeease remember to wash and dry them before delivering. It makes the job less squishy for the amazing volunteer sorters who send them away.

TOP TIP Maybe have a small storage box to drain and dry the pet pouches upside down before bagging up. 

The Hardie Park Terracycle Team have also sent over 30kg of crisp packets in the last month. that's thousands of empty crisp packets (yes, THOUSANDS) saved from landfill and the bonus is they'll be fashioned into something wonderful.

We really appreciate your recycling efforts and support of the scheme, if you are not sure on a particular item please ask before plopping in the bins. It takes a lot of volunteer time to sift and sort NON TERRACYCLE items before weighing and sending away.

Thurrock Council posted a great link this month - check here for which bin or system works for your future waste.

There's a little Terracycle Europe video below giving an insight to the process once we've sent items away for processing.

Ooh, last but not least, Sara Santiano was nominated for a Civic Award this month.  Environmental Champion - the event is being held Friday 27th February - GOOD LUCK!

Questions:Suggestions:Ideas?

To all of our customers, volunteers, park users, community, local businesses...if you have any questions about the park or want to have a chat with Rob he's here in the cafe EVERY WEDNESDAY between 10am and 12pm  A little bit like a park surgery spot, questions, answers, ideas, suggestions. Looking forward to seeing you soon!

Just a few of our kitchen specials this month!

Adventure Island tickets now on sale

We're selling Adventure Island tickets for Stanford-le-Hope Primary PTA again this year in the cafe. Cash only.  BLUE WRISTBAND £17  -  GREEN WRISTBAND £14  -  RED WRISTBAND £14  -  SEALIFE AQUARIUM £7