Hi all,
We are writing as the Co-Chairs of the Friends of Baxter Field group. We have read the comments on this thread and would like to let you know what the Friends group has achieved since it was established a year ago, why it has done this, our plans for the future, and how to get involved and make your ideas happen.
On the request of Lewisham Council and Glendale park management staff, what started as an unofficial Facebook group of Baxter Field users to gather support for upgrading the playground, became a Friends group so that it could be formally recognised by the Council and Glendale, and to enable us to apply for and access funding.
As many of you know, the first thing we did was to send out a survey hand delivered to 1000 local residents, which received 150 responses (15%). Based on the results in the survey, we prioritised several activities for the coming year. An overwhelming 70% of respondents stated that they used the park to take their children to the playground, almost 30% use it as a cut through, and 15% to walk their dogs.
We asked how the park could be improved, providing a list of options (and an open response answer field) - the top three responses were:
a) to install picnic benches (63%),
b) to create a nature trail (54%), and
c) to plant more trees (50%).
Almost immediately, Paul Upex (Lewisham Councillor) - kindly donated £500 to the group from the Councillor’s discretionary fund which we enabled us to move the fence to provide space for a picnic bench inside the playground. The Friends group has asked Men in Sheds (an AgeUK project) in Penge to build a picnic bench for the park for the cost of parts only.
Last Autumn, we successfully applied to the Woodland Trust for a pack of free saplings to plant in the park. We organised a Big Dig event on 13th Nov at which 60 local residents turned up to help plant the saplings which are now growing and have sprouted leaves.
We raised a further £1,500 from the Forest Hill Assembly to create a nature trail that will improve the trail in the woods behind the fenced area of the park where many children already play. We are organising a Big Dig event on Sat 20th May for local residents to help lay a bark chipping trail, remove some of the brambles and nettles, and clear up the rubbish that has gathered in the woods. We are also working with Eliot Bank primary school to build a couple of bug hotels to help children (many of whom don’t have their own gardens) get closer to nature.
32% of respondents requested goal posts and so this is very much something on our list of ways that we would like to improve the park. Recently, users of the Friends of Baxter Field Facebook group have also requested activities for older children in the park - including goal posts, and a table tennis table. This will be something that we are investigating - in terms of cost, sustainability (ensuring that the financial investment lasts as long as possible) and long-term planning (we can’t do everything all at once so we need to have a masterplan that we can gradually work towards in a sensible, logical way). We do have a longer-term plan (one which will require >£10k of funding) to replace the existing climbing frame/slide with a new one - this is going to take some time as it’s a significant amount of money to raise. We are very keen to ensure that this / alternative equipment is installed for a range of ages, including older children.
As many of the respondents to this thread have pointed out, the Friends group is run entirely by volunteers and aims to improve the park for ALL users. In order to do this, it requires users of the park to share their ideas and views through a structured forum so that it can fairly represent and take forward these ideas. Most of these ideas require funding, which the voluntary committee applies for - if there are any suggestions for where we can access this funding, please do let us know. And if you would like to help apply for funding, we’d also love to hear from you.
Friends of Baxter Field has held regular meetings, before which we walk around the park with the Council and Glendale. These walkabouts have highlighted several areas of maintenance for which Glendale is responsible - and so several improvements have been carried out - including: repainting and repairs to the well-used but tired playground, repairs and repainting of sections of the fence and gates; additional planting in areas of bare earth; and recently the removal of dangerous barbed and razor wire found in the wooded areas. Additionally, because the Friends group was liaising with the Council, an opportunity to install lighting along the pathway in the park was seized upon and installed very quickly as part of the Skanska lighting contract. This has made the park much safer and more useable for the many park users who walk through the park at dusk/dark.
We would like to thank all those who have supported the Friends of Baxter Field to improve it for all those who use the park - and encourage everyone to get in touch with us directly (not through this forum) through our Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/groups/baxtersfield/), or email address (friendsofbaxterfield@gmail.com), to share your suggestions so that we can investigate how to make them happen.
Many thanks,
Co-Chairs of Friends of Baxter Field