May 2020

Cheer up your lockdown with some park news

What challenging times we are facing. We hope you have been able to stay up-beat and connected. The sunshine and bright weather has been a huge bonus. Fortunately, spring has sprung, the birds are singing and our skies are blue.  

If you've been able to use the park for your daily exercise that's great. Please keep your distance and follow the government guidelines when using open spaces to keep everyone safe. Our Hardie Park team can't wait to welcome you back with a smile some time soon. 

SS17 Community rainbows - NHS we thank you!

What stars you all are! We asked you to share your NHS rainbows for us all to see. Your imagination ran wild creating these tributes to our wonderful NHS staff. Paint, chalk, fruit, clay, balloons, stickers. Well done, a fantastic effort all round. Here's the banner of your artwork we loaded on our Facebook page back in April.

Hat's off to the Easter winners

In place of the Easter Egg Hunt this year you made us smile with your themed headwear creations. Our trustees kindly offered to provide a double Rossi Ice Cream cone with a flake for ALL the competition WINNERS. We can't wait to see you in the cafe!

WELL DONE to.....

Seren – Willow – Joseph – Martha – Jacob – Noah

Ethan – Ben – Mia – Emily – Isla - Amber

SUN Flow-wower Competition

How high will yours grow? 
You've got 8 weeks to cultivate.
READY STEADY PLANT! 

Entrants need to be Age 11 and under
Prize: Children's meal and a Rossi ice cream x 2

Please follow our SUNFLOWER POSTS on Facebook and send us pictures of your progress IN COMMENTS

🌻Entrant with planted seeds
🌻Entrant with 2/4 week progress
🌻Entrant with 3/6 weeks progress

Final judging measurement from soil to sunflower head top (8 weeks - 11th August)

Garden or no garden you can still grow a sunflower from seed. Check out the link for some easy to follow instructions.

https://www.5minutefun.com/how-to-grow-a-sunflower-with-ki…/

Let the flower-fest begin!

If you don't follow us on social media, please email your entry to communications@friendsofhardiepark.co.uk

We challenged you and we'd like to say thank you!

After the cancellation of The London Marathon 2020 the organisers of the biggest UK’s mass participation sports events came together to create the #twopointsixchallenge inspiring the nation to SAVE UK CHARITIES. Like us, many charities cancelled fundraising events and closed their doors due to the COVID-19 restrictions which will impact many projects futures.

Chris Meads and Matt Adams both rose to the 2.6 challenge. Matt, self confessed, not an athlete, chose to run a full marathon over the course of a week. Chris created a frivolous challenge which involved raising a glass containing a 26ml measure of Lidl’s  Reverie French Napoleon Brandy, from a height of approx 26 cm’s... and downed it in exactly 2.6 seconds with his 26/26 vision eyes wide shut. 

A whopping £370 raised in total.

You both deserve a cheer for your efforts, and a thank you goes out to those of you who supported and donated!

Behind the scenes...

The Covid-19 scenario we now find ourselves in highlights the exact reason why behind the scenes projects like ours need a panel of passionate trustees guiding and decision making on behalf of the charity. The range of business skills and knowledge they bring to 'Friends of Hardie Park' help the project / charity navigate the sometimes complex challenges we face in our world.

The role of a trustee is the definitive example of community activation and engagement. The role offers an opportunity to make a real and substantial difference to our communities. 

Over the next couple of newsletters we will introduce you to our wonderful team! 

For more information and resources to explain what being a trustee involves click HERE >>

https://www.friendsofhardiepark.co.uk/becoming-a-hardie-park-trustee/

Puptastic news - a new style Dogtopia Show

Head over to The Dogtopia Show 2020 page on Facebook and click Events. Select 'Dogtopia Show Online 2020 - enter until 6th June' to send over your videos and photos. Full detail on the poster below. 

Pinch and zoom the poster for birdseye view on your mobile.

Sharing is caring...

A big thank you to Peter who donated lots of tomato plants to Hardie Park this week. They were cultivated at Billet Lane Allotments and gratefully received.

Some local residents have given a donation and taken a few home to nurture.

Ketchup, sauces, salsa, salads! Enjoy the crop!

Thank you for sending your Tesco tokens our way!

We're delighted to announce that Friends of Hardie Park Cycle Project has bagged £1166 from Tesco’s Bags of Help community grant scheme to develop the Hardie Cycle Hub project.

Bags of Help is run in partnership with environmental charity Groundwork, and sees grants awarded to thousands of local community projects every year. Since launching in 2015, it’s provided more than £79 million to over 26,000 local community projects.

The project is making swift progress and the idea of providing low cost affordable cycles to the community by re-furbishing donated bikes has been embraced by local people. The grant will support future activities at the hub including the production of self-help YouTube videos. Ross our cycle hub apprentice will talk through some basic cycle maintenance procedures, give tips on preparing a bike for a cycle ride and provide diagnosis and fault solving information to keep cyclists on the road. It is an exciting time for this new project and we are grateful for all the Bags of Help blue tokens you chose to send our way.

Community Cycling

Cycling in the area has been the chosen form of exercise for many and we were recently asked if we could open our doors to support demand. We had an amazing few weeks receiving donations, servicing and re-furbing many donated bikes. We now have a waiting list for bikes being sold back to the community at low cost. It’s a win, win for all. Thank you for your enthusiasm for what we are doing and your interest in the project.

STOP PRESS:  Poor Ross our apprentice mechanic unfortunately broke his wrist recently so we have been closed. We have been in touch with customers who have left their wheels with us. Please message the Hardie Cycle Hub FB page or call 07935 868835 to get in touch.

I'm sure you are with us in wishing Ross a wheely speedy recovery! 

GET WELL SOON ROSS! 

WATCH OUR @hardiecyclehub FACEBOOK PAGE FOR OPENING TIMES.

Some great ways to support your local park!

This last quarter Amazon Smile donated £32.33 to Friends of Hardie Park.

Shop on AmazonSmile at https://smile.amazon.co.uk/ch/1172078-0, and Amazon donates to Friends Of Hardie Park Ltd, at no cost to you.

Facebook also has a facility if you don't have anything on your birthday list. You can set up a FB fundraiser for your birthday and choose to support the park. Facebook take care of your friends and colleagues donations, processing with no fees.

One of our trustees Fabiana did just this a couple of months ago for her birthday and raised a total of £210 for the park. THANK YOU FABIANA!

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! Register your details on the above link and we will be in touch.