Penge Green Gym Christmas Newsletter

Penge Green Gym Newsletter A very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year from all the volunteers at Winsford Gardens

Penge Green Gym Newsletter Late Autumn 2017

Penge Green Gym Newsletter    Dear Penge Green Gym Supporters Exciting news about the Skipton grant and Penge in Bloom We are excited to announce that Penge Green Gym has been picked by Skipton as one of the 164 community groups to secure a £500 grant.  Over 40,000 votes were cast.  We are very grateful to everyone that voted and we can now go ahead with plans for a new seat with a back.  This will be one of our winter projects.  Thank you all. We are also very excited that we have won Penge in Blooms 'most environmentally friendly garden' award.  Brenda and Jane collected the certificate and prize of a lovely hand fork from Alexandra Nurseries in Penge. We would like to thank the ongoing support of the Penge Partners and hopefully we'll be back again next year!   Autumn is upon us With autumn now in full swing we are getting on with projects to tidy up the garden for the winter, making repairs to bed edging and creating new pathways in the growing area.  We are also preparing one of the wildflower meadows for rotivating by Ideverde so that we can start the process of turning it into a dry gravel garden.  Once the rotivation has taken place we will put a membrane down to supress the weeds and then a layer of gravel.  In the spring we will start to plant with drought tolerant plants and other pollinator friendly plants.  This project was funded by the Tesco bags of help scheme.  This also includes our new wildlife pond which is doing well in the growing area. Also a big job this time of year is raking the leaves off the grass.  Last years leaf mulch has been spread over the flower beds and makes a great weed suppressant and protects the plants from the worst of the weather. Whilst clearing the wildflower meadow we also found a toad (we think, please let us know if we are wrong!) hiding in the long grass.  We think it may have been a female as she was very round!  She has been relocated to the bog garden to hopefully see out the winter in peace. Although we have had a couple of strong storms early in the season autumn continues to provide some lovely colours and textures.   Notice of General Meeting A general meeting will be held on 13th December at Winsford Gardens at 12.30pm to get registered approval from volunteer members to ratify updates and review the PGG/Friends of Winsford Gardens Constitution.   #GreenGym #Penge #WinsfordGardens #JoinInFeelGood To receive these Newsletters by email (approximately 8 times per year) contact us to be added to the mailing list: https://www.pengegreengym.org.uk/contact/ To read archived copies of our old newsletters, go here: https://www.pengegreengym.org.uk/news/newsletters/

Stag Hunting in Suburbia

Stag Hunting in Suburbia

If you mention rare and endangered species, then one might think of hunters and poachers in tropical climates. However, there are endangered species found much closer to home, some are even in our own gardens.

An Endangered Species?  …In MY garden?

An endangered species is a species which has been categorised as very likely to become extinct. So, it comes as a surprise when you find them in your own garden! However, when determining the conservation status of a species many factors are involved, not only the number remaining, but the overall increase and decrease over time, breeding rates, loss of habitat through climate change and urbanisation, and other known threats.

Stag Beetles (Lucanus cervus) are the largest terrestrial beetles in the UK (Only the Great Silver Water Beetle is larger.) Once common throughout Europe and southern Britain they have become extinct in some countries and are globally-endangered. Despite a steep decline in numbers throughout Europe, recent sightings of Stag Beetles, such as from the GiGL map for 2017, show that south-east and south-west London are particular hot spots. In south and south-east London the pattern is consistent with the extent of the old Great North Wood or Norwood, which once stretched from Selhurst to Deptford, covering the Sydenham Ridge and the tributaries of the Rivers Effra and Ravensbourne in an oak forest. Indeed, the first recorded sighting of a Stag Beetle was apparently made somewhere near Anerley around 1899.

Three London sites are European Special Areas for Conservation for Stag Beetles. These are Epping Forest, Richmond Park, and Wimbledon and Putney Commons. In south London, the @greatnorthwood project will set hundreds of volunteers to work to help make south London's woodlands more Stag Beetle friendly.

At the Penge Green Gym in Anerley, we frequently see Stag Beetles while gardening either in our own home gardens, or while volunteering in Winsford Gardens, Penge. From June to August, is the best time of the year to see the adult beetles, on sultry summer evenings. The male beetles can fly very clumsily, making a faint clattering whirr. They are between 5cm and 8cm long, and the males have very large, antler-shaped jaws. The females lack the antlers and have smaller jaws.

Gardeners may accidently disturb the larvae (grubs) when clearing up or moving dead wood around the garden. Stag beetles spend most of their lives as larvae inside dead wood such as tree stumps and cut logs. It takes them between 4 and 7 years to grow into an adult. They have an important role to play in eating and breaking down dead wood.

The Decline in Numbers

The decline in numbers has been partly attributed to tidy gardens, parks and greenspaces, so we can help these creatures by leaving dead wood in situ for them and by not removing tree stumps, so that the larvae have somewhere to grow. You can also build loggeries such as those in Winsford Gardens, where tree trunks and branches are dug vertically into the ground and allowed to rot.

Stag beetles may also be deliberately killed in the mistaken belief they are pests, and road traffic, gardener’s feet, pet cats and other predators also lead to accidental losses.

There is plenty you can do to help them in your garden, so please think about leaving your garden a little more untidy and leaving that pile of logs in the corner.

David Fergusson @GreenGymPenge

The Importance of Urban Street Trees

The Victorians knew a thing or two about building towns and cities we appear to have forgotten. Municipal public parks, cemeteries and other public green spaces are one of the greatest legacies of Victorian Britain. They also planted a very large number of street trees and crucially, they kept the trees that were already there, by building streets and houses around them.

It has been estimated that by 2030, 6 out of 10 people will live in cities. By 2050, this will increase to 7 out of 10. People are more isolated from nature than ever before, and access to nature within the urban environment is more important now than ever.

The Woodland Trust believes that we are taking our urban green spaces and our urban street trees for granted and do not value them sufficiently: https://www.woodlandtrust.org.uk/blog/2017/04/street-trees/

Town and city planners have recognised the importance of street trees and green space for years, but unfortunately the drastic cuts in the budgets of local authorities in recent years has meant that these important parts of the urban environment are being neglected, or that their protection is being removed, and the land developed. A tree can take hundreds of years to grow to maturity, but the benefits it provides is staggering and far outweighs any maintenance costs. Once a tree has gone, it has gone forever.

The Forestry Commission has outlined the main benefits of mature street trees here: https://www.forestry.gov.uk/fr/urgc-7ekec8  

The tree canopy can:

• Reduce the urban heat island effect by shading and evapotranspiration
• Reduce pollution by intercepting particulates and absorbing greenhouse gases
• Reduce flooding by intercepting rainfall.

Clearly, mature street trees need to be a part of any strategy to counteract climate change, or inner city air pollution, but the environmental importance of mature trees cannot be underestimated. They also support a wide range of animals and other plants, supplying food, shelter, shade, and nest sites. Street trees support the birds that come to your garden and the insects that pollinate your garden flowers.

Living in an urban area with green spaces and street trees also has a long-lasting positive impact on people's mental well-being and physical health, by offering an environment for exercise and reducing levels of stress. Something the Green Gym is very well aware of.

However, you may be surprised to learn that trees in urban areas are also known to provide a wide range of other social and economic benefits. The incorporation of trees into urban development plans improves the aesthetics and environmental quality of urban areas which can lead to increased inward investment and the provision of jobs.  Research has shown that nearby trees can increase the property value of your home by 15% or more. So, removing street trees will actually reduce the value of your property. Other research has shown that crime is reduced in neighbourhoods with street trees, and that traffic travels more slowly on the roads, and reduces incidents and the severity of accidents.

Sycamore, London Plane, Poplar, Horse-chestnut & Lime trees are the most common trees found on LB Bromley’s streets.  According to Cornell University: http://www.hort.cornell.edu/uhi/outreach/recurbtree/pdfs/~recurbtrees.pdf it is important to carefully choose tree species that will survive the pollution, heat and salt in the urban street environment. The best policy is diversity, as monocultures of one particular tree species can lead to diseases and increases in damaging insect populations. The trees most likely to survive are those that have already proved themselves; those mature trees that are already there.

The Vernon Oak is a street tree in Sheffield that is 150 years old. It was there before the street or the houses and was a boundary oak at the edge of a field. Sheffield City Council plans to cut this healthy tree down and replace it with a more manageable sapling. It has plans, already underway since 2012, to cut down thousands of similar trees. If the saplings die they promise to replace them with another. It would be several lifetimes before these saplings have the same ecosystems established around them, and in the meantime the benefits provided, including shade and canopy cover, but also those social and economic benefits, are lost. It has been calculated that 60Ha of Sheffield canopy cover has already been removed, and Sheffield City Council show no signs of stopping yet. Last month, in London, LB Wandsworth cut down Chestnut Avenue on Tooting Common and are replacing every mature tree which was there with immature Limes.

The case made for removal is often that the trees are dead, or diseased, and are health and safety risks. No one is asking that dead trees are not felled, but all trees do carry some disease and this can often be safely managed. Damage from tree roots to roads, pavements and walls can be managed too, with engineering solutions that exist that allow trees to remain. These solutions can be more expensive but the priority should be to do everything possible to keep the mature tree. Where trees must be felled then saplings should be planted among the remaining trees to provide a range of tree ages and a diversity of types. The cutting down of every single tree on a street is simply environmental vandalism.

If cost was the only problem, Trees for Cities have, in the case of the Vernon Oak, made an offer to pay for the repairs to the pavement: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-south-yorkshire-41694760

The offer has not been taken up yet, although the council says it is in “discussions.” Meanwhile, the council continues to take legal steps against protesters, and several are due in court on 27^th October. It has all become very heated, without very much light, and Councillors Tweet (a Tweet since deleted) that they are “contemptuous of idiots” who disagree with the council policy, or they claim that protesters have spread “misinformation.” However, I haven’t understood what information is misleading concerning the council policy, as it appears quite clear, even from the mouths of the councillors themselves.

Sheffield Council also use the same excuse as do LB Bromley, asking which other service you would cut instead to fund non-statutory duties. Services cost the price that they cost. If you pay less then you get substandard services. It is their fundamental job to balance budgets while maintaining services at the same standards or better.

For me, the bottom line is that mature urban street trees are more important than pavement and road repairs, and possibly even more than house foundations. Children’s playgrounds can be moved, mature trees are more difficult. We would not demolish a grade one listed building because it was too close to a widened road. 

Why do we not value our trees in the same way?

David Fergusson BSc (Hons) (Sheff) MSc. DIC 

Natural Health Service

New research by The Wildlife Trust supports the idea that nature could be widely prescribed by doctors as a therapy, easing the burden on the NHS.

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/oct/02/natural-health-service-wildlife-volunteers-get-mental-health-boost?

The physical and mental health benefits of gardening and working outdoors volunteering is something that Green Gyms have known about for many years. Penge Green Gym is now over six years old, but the Green Gym concept was the idea of Dr William Bird, and the first Green Gym was piloted in 1997 in Sonning Common.

Green Gym is a registered trade mark of The Conservation Volunteers (TCV.) Here is a list of other TCV Community Groups including Green Gyms. If there isn’t a Green Gym in your location, why not start your own?

Penge Green Gym Early Autumn Newsletter 2017

Penge Green Gym Newsletter    Dear Penge Green Gym Supporters Skipton Grassroots Giving 2017 We are delighted to announce we have been shortlisted for this years Skipton Grassroots Giving award.  Out of over 700 groups shortlisted 164 will given £500 each depending on how many votes they get from the public.  This is where you can help us.  Please go into a branch or go to this address https://www.skiptongrg.co.uk/apply-for-funding/2017-shortlisted-groups/london/friends-of-winsford-gardens-[also-known-as-penge-green-gym]/ and vote for us.  All they require is an email address to verify the votes.  Votes will be counted in October and the winning groups will be notified.  If we win this award we will be creating more seating with backs for the enjoyment of everyone visiting the gardens. And if you are still in the mood you can vote for us at the Green Flag Award People's Choice 2017 http://www.greenflagaward.org.uk/award-winners/?utm_source=GFA_List&utm_medium=email&utm_content=GFA_List_010917_GFA_Peoples_Choice. People can decide which are the top 10 parks in the UK.  Projects in August This summer has seen the volunteers busy digging, sawing, clearing and eating soggy sausages! The small wildlife pond has been dug in the growing area and lined.  As you can see Keith was trying it out as a hot tub but the heavens opened soon afterwards and it is already full of rainwater.  We will soon be stocking it with plants to encourage the local wildlife and invertebrates. The new raised beds are also well underway in the growing area, we have also been busy digging out tough roots of alder and sycamore, it's quite a workout!  The bed next to our shed is being slowly clearly of non flowering dog roses and other weeds to make room for new planting. Our annual BBQ stood out as being the wettest on record but it didn't stop us enjoying a sausage or two under the gazebo.  Thanks to Wendy for lending us the gazebo and BBQ.

TCV Green Gyms in Haringey and Tottenham

Love Parks Week

Penge Green Gym Newsletter    Dear  Penge Green Gym Supporters Love Parks Week is here! Show your love for your park - 14-23 July 2017 Join in with the 100 million visits to UK parks this #LoveParks Week (14 -23 July) and tell  the world why you love your park. And please join the volunteers at Winsford Gardens for tea and homemade scones and jam at 12.30pm on Wednesday 19th July. Love Parks Week, now in its 11th year, is Britain’s biggest celebration of these valuable spaces.  Penge Green Gym at Winsford Gardens is joining the celebration, and encouraging everyone to share why they love Winsford Gardens. This #LoveParks Week, we are encouraging as many people as possible to go out and enjoy their local park. Take a photo, video or simply post on social media, using the hashtag #LoveParks,  telling the world why you love your park. Using this tide of public support, with people sharing how much parks matter to them and why,  environmental charity Keep Britain Tidy will campaign to secure the quality of parks for future  generations to enjoy.  In Other News Fabulous Open Day 2017! Lots of fun was had by all at this years open day.  We were blessed with wonderful weather and a visit from  the new Mayor Kathy Bance.    Lots of faces were painted and lots of cakes were enjoyed.  Once again we  enjoyed wonderful music from Musica Mediocre.  Our new hopscotch was a great success and children  explored the park whilst doing the treasure hunt.     A Sad Farewell   We have to say a sad farewell to one of our longest serving volunteers.  Chris is moving on  to pastures new but has played an integral role in at the gardens.  He is a stalwart of the  committee keeping our finances in order and will thankfully continue to keep an eye on the  books.  But he will mainly be missed for his humour and tea making abilities!   Good Luck Chris!

Copyright © 2017 Penge Green Gym, All rights reserved.

Notice of AGM 2017

Penge Green Gym Newsletter    Dear Penge Green Gym Supporters AGM We are sending out notification for our next AGM on Wednesday 5th July 2017. PENGE GREEN GYM COMMUNITY GROUP/ FRIENDS OF WINSFORD GARDENS NOTICE OF FOURTH ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING WEDNESDAY 5th July 2017, 2.15pm at WINSFORD GARDENS, GARDEN ROAD, PENGE SE20 7XW AGENDA 1. To receive the report from the Chair of the Penge Green Gym Community Group Management Committee for the period since the last Annual General Meeting on 20th July 2016. 2. To receive the report from the Treasurer of the Penge Green Gym Community Group Management Committee for the period since the last Annual General Meeting on 20th July 2016. 3. To elect Management Committee members, officers and leaders as prescribed by the Penge Green Gym Community Group’s constitution. All current committee members are to resign at this AGM, but are eligible for re-election to the Community Group Management Committee 4. To discuss future programme and projects 5. Any other business Apologies for absence or nominations for positions on the Management Committee should be submitted to the Secretary, Electra Thompson, prior to the meeting Electra Thompson Secretary, Penge Green Gym Community Group Management Committee

Penge Green Gym Newsletter Early Summer 2017

Penge Green Gym Newsletter    Dear Penge Green Gym Supporters We'd love to see everyone at our open day.  We always have lots of fun come rain or shine!  Happy Birthday Penge Green Gym Penge Green Gym is now in it's 6th year and we celebrated with cakes and tea!  Our first ever TCV leader Lizzy came along with the newest, and youngest volunteer!  It was lovely to see her and to show her all that we've been doing at Winsford Gardens.    Exciting news from Tesco Bags of Help Earlier this year we applied to the Tesco bags of help fund for a grant to replace one of our meadows with a dry gravel garden which will hopefully fair better in our warmer, dryer summers.  During March and April customers collected tokens in their local Tesco's and put them towards the 3 projects Tesco were promoting.  We have now been given the exciting news that we collected enough tokens to fully fund the gravel garden.  In the next few months we will start the process of clearing the area of weeds and putting down a membrane to suppress any new growth.  The exciting process of stocking the garden can them begin. #iVolunteer #WinsfordGardens #GreenGym #Penge #PengeFestival

Volunteers Week 1-7 June

Why don’t you come and join us on any Wednesday for a free green “workout” and gardening experience in Winsford Gardens, the home of the Penge Green Gym?

For more information visit our website @ Penge Green Gym

Or Follow us on Facebook and Twitter

Penge Green Gym meets in

Winsford Gardens every Wednesday

throughout the year from 11am – 2pm.

Mayor to Attend Winsford Gardens Open Day 4th June 2017

Mayor to Attend Winsford Gardens Open Day 4th June 2017

Penge Green Gym is delighted to announce that this year, our annual Winsford Gardens Open Day will be attended by the new Mayor of Bromley, Katherine Bance MBE. We have invited the newly elected Mayor, and we have been informed by her office that our invitation has been accepted and added to her diary of official engagements. Since our formation in 2011, we have always been supported by the Kathy as a local Councillor and we wish her to have a very successful year as the new Bromley Mayor.

Penge Green Gym has now been running for over six years, and Sunday 4 June will be the sixth time we have held an Open Day to show off our many achievements and aims. As last year, we decided to hold the event on the Sunday following the Penge Festival Fete as a part of the Penge Festival. 

Last year the weather wasn't kind to us, and we are hoping for some summer sun 🌞🌞🌞 this year, even though attendance was great.

This year we won't be changing from a formula that has worked extremely well in the past, so you can expect all the old favourites - plants for sale, cakes and refreshments, a treasure hunt, face painting and other kids activities, and live music.

Please forward, retweet, copy this poster, and display wherever or to whoever you think people might be interested.

Winsford Gardens is in Penge, London SE20 with entrances on Croydon Road and Garden Road, and lies between the Travelodge and the Aldi supermarket. It is served by the bus routes: 176, 197, 356, 358, 75. Nearest Network Rail stations are: Kent House or Anerley. Croydon Tramlink: Avenue Road.   

For more information go to www.pengegreengym.org.uk

@greengympenge on Twitter

Penge Green Gym on Facebook

May Tips for Butterfly Conservation from "The Secret Gardener"

Let an area of grass grow long or sowing an area with a mix of wildflowers and grasses to provide food and shelter for butterflies, moths and other wildlife.

B&Q has just launched a report called The Nature of Gardens, which summarises 10 simple steps to bring wildlife closer to home. 

Winsford Gardens wildlife meadow

You could collect a handful of seeds from some local grasses, which are then likely to suit your soil.

More of this good advice can be found at:

http://butterfly-conservation.org/3114-16020/dig-it--may-tips-from-the-secret-gardener.html

Horticulture unites over melanoma

Celebrity gardeners, horticultural organisations and UK garden retailers pledge to fight melanoma.

Charlie Dimmock, Alan Titchmarsh, Andy Sturgeon, David Stevens, Toby Buckland, Anne Swithinbank and Joe Swift are supporting ‘Watch Your Back!’ a melanoma awareness campaign for gardeners devised by the Myfanwy Townsend Melanoma Research Fund. The campaign is partnered by the Garden Centre Association, the Professional Gardeners Guild and The National Allotment Society and supported by nearly 160 garden centres across the UK.

http://prolandscapermagazine.com/horticulture-unites-over-melanoma/

Early Spring 2017 Newsletter

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Penge Green Gym Newsletter        Dear Penge Green Gym Supporters     New Year and New Projects for Penge Green Gym After a chilly couple of months at Winsford Gardens spring is here and new projects are under way.  From our header you will see that Penge Green Gym has been selected by Tesco to receive a donation from it's Bags of help initiative where money collected from the sale of plastics bags goes to community projects.  If you go into any local branch of Tesco during March and April you will see the perspex boxes and the Winsford Gardens Regeneration Project is in the middle.  Please ask the shop assistant to give you a blue token (or 2) to put in the box. The money raised will go towards the regeneration of one of our meadows into a dry gravel flower bed and a bench.  We will also be creating a small wildlife pond in the growing area. New Signs at Winsford Gardens We would like to say a big thank you to Ancaster Garages for funding the news signs at both entrances of Winsford Gardens.  We think they really stand out and make the entrances welcoming to passers by.  2 representatives from Ancaster came along to officially 'open' the signs.  Many other projects are progressing including 2 new, small raised beds which will be planted up with colourful vegetables in the coming weeks.  We have also cleared a lot of overhanging hedging that has been damaging the fence with our neighbours. This will allow repairs to be made by Idverde. We have also created a new dead hedge and removed an Ash tree stump. And much general clearing has been going on in preparation for spring.