volunteering

A random tidy…

/ greenerSudbury / 1 Comment

We popped down to the Kingfisher last Thursday – the one day that didn’t have rain forecast – just to do a little tidy up. We spent an hour or so doing a bit of weeding, some cutting back, and giving the Erigeron/Fleabane a trim. Good to see that the bees are still enjoying what is, after all, intended to be a nectar bar. The hot oranges, deep reds and rich purples look jewel-like in the sunshine, all set off by the sparkle of the Erigeron around the edges.

Our next tidy will be at the Quay Theatre site, as soon as we can gain access. The other bed at the Kingfisher will get a revamp in Spring of next year, but meanwhile the rosemary is doing well there, and will provide somewhere for the bees and butterflies to stop, once its flowers emerge.

Health and Wellbeing.

/ greenerSudbury / Leave a comment

For your diary – St Peter’s is hosting a health, wellbeing and jobs event next week.

Health Wellbeing Job Fair Poster copy• Age UK
• Ameliorate Recruitment
• Autism & ADHD
• Avon
• Babergh Housing
• Compassion
• Citizen’s Advice
• Community Action Suffolk (Good Neighbour Scheme)
• Community Action Suffolk (Volunteer Suffolk)
• Department for Work & Pensions
• Early Help Team
• Exploring You
• Go-Start Community Transport
• Greenfields Housing
• Greenlight Trust
• Health Foods for You
• Home Start
• Icanbea
• Inspire Suffolk
• Jon Adkin (specialist mental health hypnotherapist)
• Lavenham Blue
• Leading Lives
• Love Your Community Sudbury
• Menta
• Mill Hotel
• One Life Suffolk
• Our Special Friends
• Realise Futures
• Recovery College
• Sendiass
• Sharing Parenting
• St. Peter’s Church Volunteer Coordinator
• Suffolk Parent Carer Network
• Sudbury Hive
• Suffolk Police
• Suffolk User Forum
• Swan Lavenham
• TCHC (training for young people)
• The Befriending Scheme
• Torque Bikes
• Tesco
• Town Council Services
• Wellbeing Service
• West Suffolk College

Welcome!

/ greenerSudbury / Leave a comment

Thank you to everyone who managed to tear themselves away from the buzz at St Peter’s and came over to say hello at the Town Hall –  and a very warm welcome to all those who picked up a card, and are visiting our blog for the first time.

St Peter’s 2 March 2019

We are a small group who aim to make Sudbury greener, using sustainable planting in areas that have been slightly neglected in the past. If you scroll down (or perhaps go to the beginning of the blog and work your way forwards) you will see a little bit more about the sorts of things we’ve been doing over the past five years. You will also find information there about other groups and individuals around town who are trying to make a difference by planting up forgotten corners or picking up litter.

Town Hall

We meet on the first Friday of the month at one of our sites in town. By clicking on the ‘follow’ button (near the bottom on the right) you will receive the blog post by email, letting you know where to meet, and about any other events we think might interest you. We will not bombard you with emails (usually only one a month) and we never share your information with anyone else. Of course, you can also just check in every so often to see what we’re doing.

Quay Theatre tidy-up

At our last Friday Tidy we were heartened to see that the buds are coming out on the fruit bushes and trees at the Quay car park garden – they have all survived!

Buds!

Our next task is to  clear the wildflower bed at the Kingfisher car park, and refill with even more nectar-rich plants – pollinators need our help!

Pollinators: decline in numbers

There is evidence that bees and other pollinator populations are less healthy and abundant than they have been. If action is not taken, pollinator declines will have serious implications for food production and the ornamental garden, since many plants rely on bees and other insects, such as hoverflies to transfer pollen from one flower to another in order to set fruits and seeds.

You can read the rest of this RHS article by clicking here.

If you can use a trowel, secateurs, a fork or a spade, do join us! You need not ‘sign up’, just turn up for half an hour or a couple of hours – we would be delighted to see you!

Anglia in Bloom!

/ greenerSudbury / Leave a comment

Anglia in Bloom is coming to Sudbury today – and we will be at the Quay car park from 10:45 am and at the Kingfisher from around noon to greet the judges. If you have helped on either of these projects (you know who you are!) do come along and lend your support/wax lyrical/smile enthusiastically!

It would also be great to see the Quay volunteers who have taken over  the Quay Theatre seating area.

Finally, Dan from Activ Lives sends this message:

We are really chuffed with all the help we have had at Belle Vue Park. Please come and share this high point of our second year when the Anglia in Bloom Judges come to Sudbury.

We would love a hand watering everything too.

As ever:  Thursday, 10am – 12.30pm in Belle Vue Park, Sudbury.
Parking on Ingrams Well Road.
I think they are coming just about tea time – but I’d love it if you felt like talking to them about how gardening in the Park or in your area of the towns of Sudbury or Cornard has helped you.

ActivLives June Diary

/ greenerSudbury / Leave a comment

Dan’s June Dates for your Diary

Wednesday 6th  – Town Centre Bedding

For those reading this on Wednesday, Sudbury in Bloom are planting up the town centre this morning and would love any help.

Thursday 7th Belle Vue Park Picnic (Taste of Sudbury Fringe Event) Volunteering Day 10-12 followed by a shared picnic to celebrate the fabulous Food Festive. (BBC Radio Suffolk Interview at 2.40 as well.)
Sunday 10th Taste of Sudbury Food Festival – Town Centre

Monday 11th Volunteer Safari:

10am -12 Sudbury Train Station Gardens and Painting
1pm Siam Gardens – Alkanet tidy up
2.30-5pm Sandringham Court – Convolvulus tidy up.

As always, of course, regular Thursdays in Belle Vue Park….. It’s looking stunning. 

 

This post published on behalf of Dan at ActivLives.

Budding potential…

/ greenerSudbury / Leave a comment

Our April Friday Tidy went well – work included raking over the soil to inhibit weed growth, tidying the compost heap, and planting some wild strawberries.

Adrian Walters, with the help of two other Common Lands rangers, very generously brought some extra wooden log ‘steps’ to replace those that were stolen from the site earlier this year. We have now begun to cover them with chicken wire, and started to place them in situ to provide a meandering path to allow easier access to the fruit trees and bushes. We will hopefully complete this task next Friday Tidy.

Difficult to see here, but the trees and bushes are budding, and are looking healthy and established. We will be planting more once the path is in place.

It was also great to see the Quay volunteers hard at work on the garden at the seating area. We began helping clear the space back in 2015, and the plants we later put in are thriving. The Quay volunteers have since added many more, and are doing a wonderful job of maintaining the space. It is a beautiful place to sit on a balmy evening – do go and check it out if you haven’t already!

Nuttery in March

/ greenerSudbury / Leave a comment

The Nuttery Clare

volunteering work party

The ActivGardens volunteer team, led by Danny Thorrington, will be doing general conservation work, vegetation clearance and scrub cutting, with Emma Black of Stour and Dedham Vale AONB.

They will be meeting at 9.45am in the churchyard at Clare, near Sudbury, on Monday 5th March, weather permitting, and the nuttery is a five minute walk from there. Click on the link below for more information.

http://www.clare-uk.com/pages/clare-nuttery-107.htm

Volunteers should wear sturdy boots and waterproofs and bring gloves if possible.

Thursday, Friday, Happy Days!

/ greenerSudbury / Leave a comment

If you want to get out and about, get some exercise, breathe in some fresh air, and all while doing something useful, there’s lots happening this week.

On Thursday, Dan and team will be down at Belle Vue Park from 10 – 12:30 as usual. On Friday, why not help us here at greenerSudbury do some tidying up (details to follow)? Then on Sunday join Sudbury in Bloom volunteers to plant up some grass verges. See Dan’s message (below) for more information about Sudbury in Bloom, and Belle Vue Park.

“Sudbury In Bloom have arranged some weekend family bulb planting sessions, and the next is on December 3rd from 10.30 to 12.30, at the Mill Hotel. We will have bulbs to donate to schools and organisations so please let me know if your group would like to participate.”

Dan writes, Daffodils are the perfect bulb…. they do really well and over time a patch grows and naturalises. Tulips on the other hand sometimes lose their vigour and become weak.

The yellow is just the right colour for Easter and often falls well with Mother’s Day. That’s why Grow Your Community recommends them in schools as an easy to grow and pick burst of colour. What better way to get over Winter than to be expectant of a Spring full of life.

It’s not too late to plant bulbs – as long as you can dig a hole 3-5 inches (not frozen) and the bulbs are not damaged or squidgy – often shops sell them at half price now.

Remember we’re at Belle Vue Park this Thursday 10am – 12.30 and there will be the usual activities tending the flower beds. Also some repotting of Money plants if you want a new houseplant. Happy as ever to see new faces.

Dan 0755 134 3 135
dan@activlives.org.uk

Grow Your Community Sudbury

/ greenerSudbury / Leave a comment

Dear Friends and Supporters of Sudbury Community Gardening,

GROW YOUR COMMUNITY/ ACTIVLIVES would love your help.  Aviva has selected us to go forward for voting to win a share of the funding for our fantastic community growing project in Sudbury, which has already clocked more than 1,000 hours of volunteering in the town’s parks and green spaces, housing estates and street plots.

To vote for us, just follow the link below – just register, choose a password, verify the email and then vote. Sometimes the website from Aviva can be busy but it’s a quick way to make a huge difference to Sudbury. You can vote for us up to 10 times! Voting closes on 19 November, so please cast your vote asap! If we secure enough votes, we will win up to £10,000 to launch the second phase of this project next year.

https://community-fund.aviva.co.uk/voting/project/view/17-4309

You may also like to vote for the ActivLives minibus. Remember, you have a total of 10 votes so you can vote for one project or spread your votes between projects. If you have any problems, please let me know – dan@activlives.org.uk.

Please feel free to share the link with all your friends and contacts to help us win.

Thanks for your help!
Dan Wheals

Dan ActivLives <dan@activlives.org.uk>
Grow your Community in Sudbury Co-ordinator
ActivGardens

Posted by greenerSudbury on behalf of Grow Your Community Sudbury.