Getting together to help Derby Park

January 2018

There was a great turnout on Thursday 31st January for Derby Park volunteer day, despite the cold and frost.

43 volunteers from six Taking Root community gardens, along with a group of children from Bedford Road Primary School, and members of SMBC Green Sefton Team and Asda’s Community Champion, joined together to support Friends of Derby Park in a big tidy-up to keep the park looking lovely throughout winter.

With a collective contribution of nearly 90 hours, everyone got stuck in, despite the frost, clearing the borders of grass, clearing gutters and drains, litter picking and clearing the steps.

It was a great morale boost for the Friends of Derby Park group, as Barbara Rouse said: “This is memorable, working together is the future as we get more done.”

It was also a treat for Bedford Road Primary School staff, some of whom had never been to the park and who are keen to find ways to use it more in the future. And as a bonus, the children also learnt a bit of science, as teachers and community gardeners explained to them about frost, the damage caused by litter (plastic), flowering seasons and even metal detecting (as the children spoke to a chap who gave them a penny that he found).

Demonstrating the growing strength of the Taking Root partnership and new ways of working – helping us make a start on our mission to reduce waste on our much-needed tea breaks, Asda donated re-useable cups, which will keep us going all year, and giving us a bit of support, Jay popped over from the Inclusion Network to drop off some biscuits and say hello.