Tag: volunteering

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Dorset Road Allotments awarded Green Flag for 19th year!

We are delighted to recieve a Green Flag Award for the 19th year in a row!

The accreditation – the international quality mark for parks and green spaces – is testament to the hard work and dedication of the volunteers who care for the green space so that visitors and residents alike can enjoy it.

Keep Britain Tidy’s Green Flag Award Scheme Manager, Paul Todd MBE, said: “I would like to congratulate everyone involved at Dorset Road Allotments and Leisure Gardens on achieving a Green Flag Award.

 “Dorset Road Allotments and Leisure Gardens is a vital green space for communities in Beckenham to socialise, enjoy nature, for children to play safely and it provides important opportunities for park users to improve their physical and mental health.

 We know that staff and volunteers work tirelessly to ensure that it maintains the high standards of the Green Flag Award, everyone involved should feel extremely proud of their achievement. 

 It is important that our free to use spaces are maintained to the Green Flag Award standard, making them accessible for all members of the community while ensuring the environment is protected.”

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Brilliant Bonfire Night

We had a great turnout for our annual bonfire night party on Saturday 4th November.

Our members, family and friends joined us for a wonderful evening.   There wre craft activities for children – including the lanterns  they made to help light the way to the amazing firework display.

People holding lanterns watching a firework display

We had a fabulous bonfire and were able to cook Polish sausages on the embers.

Bonfire

There was also sausages (from Murray’s butchers in Penge), pumpkin soup, baked potatoes and loads of home made cakes to eat in our Clubhouse.

The Committee would like to thank everybody who donated fireworks, baked cakes and helped to set up and run the event.

 

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Dead Hedge

We have a new wildlife habitat on site that will help to reduce the amount of waste that we burn and support biodiversity.

We have created a ‘dead hedge’ along the riverbank opposite the Clubhouse.   This will replace the aging wooden fence with a new habitat.

Insects and invertebrates love rotting wood and the dead hedge will be a perfect home for them.

Insects and invertebrates are a vital part of a healthy garden. They help pollinate flowers and crops, They eat pests and are food for larger animals (such as small mammals hedgehogs and birds), They also help to recycle nutrients and improving the soil.

The fence was created by our members on Community Spruce days using stakes pollarded from a tree in the wildlife garden, together with recycled fencing wire.

Members are asked to put their woody waste on the dead hedge rather than taking it to the bonfire area.