Chairs Report 2016
We have had another busy year and as usual I will report on the progress we have made.
Our events included an Open day in May, a Parksfest events in July, 5 Tea in the Tarns in August, a bat walk in September, a pop up art café in November, the Xmas Sing a long in December, a Bird watch in January and finally a Be a local Tourist walk last month.
All of these have been very well attended and our volunteers worked really hard making cakes and serving hot drinks at them all. During these events we took donations which amount to £1400 which has been put toward our lake fund which now stands at £3300.
We have also received a fantastic donation from Royal Blackheath Golf Club of £1000.
We have had several meetings with the Council over the year to discuss the ongoing issues with the water quality in the Lake. The Council commissioned a report on long term solutions which although not fully costed at this stage, will require a significant sum of money to solve the problems. Clive Efford MP met with the Heritage Lottery to discuss possible grants and following up on this we are now working with the Council to make a joint bid with the Council to the Heritage Lottery. The grant application will focus on protecting the environment for future generations by finding a long term solution to the pollution in the lake. The Friends Group have set up a Steering Group that will work with the Council to prepare the bid.
This year we entered the London in Bloom – In your Backyard – category which recognizes the work of local Community Groups. We received a Thriving award and were only 1 point short of outstanding so with a bit of extra effort we may well reach outstanding this year. We also entered the Bexley in Bloom which is run by Ruxley Manor Garden Centre for anyone who lives within a 15 mile radius and received a Silver award in the Community Garden Section. We will soon have to put an extension on the hut to hold all our awards! It does however recognize the sterling work our volunteers do over the year so I would like to give a big thank you to all of them. I would also like to thank the Committee for their ideas and enthusiasm and the support they have given to the group over the last year.
Our future plans for this year are our usual events including Parksfest and Tea in the Tarns. We are also doing a sponsored walk for the first time on 24th April, 2016 to raise money for the Lake Fund. There has been a lot of press coverage of studies recently that says that getting out in the fresh air is good for our health. So if you are feeling a bit lethargic after winter then do come and join in our walk – I will try and organize good weather – and you never know you may feel a bit healthier at the end of it.