Wendell Park Gardening Friends Celebrate Fundraising Success

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Community group raise £10,000 to improve Shepherd's Bush park

Wendell Park Gardening Friends are celebrating achieving their goal of raising £10,000, in order to maintain, improve and embellish the park at the western end of Shepherd's Bush.

The Gardening Friends was formed in August this year, in conjunction with the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham, as an independent local voluntary group, aiming to improve the much loved but slightly neglected park.

Since then, the Friends have met regularly to clear a huge quantity of invasive snowberry bushes and replanted hundreds of spring bulbs in their place.

This month they organised a Bulb Planting Day with two year three classes from local schools, and as they become more established they are looking to arrange more gardening days with local charities supporting the elderly and the disabled.

This autumn they also launched a fundraising campaign to replant a 400 sq.m herbaceous border and to plant drifts of naturalising spring bulbs throughout the park.

The group were hoping to raise £10,000 by 15 December, but with the support of local people it has already been raised.

The Friends used H&F's Spacehive crowdfunding platform to pay for bulbs, shrub planting, tools, publicity and and insurance costs. The fundraising was boosted by a £5,000 contribution from H&F Council's Community Infrastructure Levy and £500 from the Esme Fairbairn Foundation.

Another £500 was raised by craft fair sales at Askew Library and Kite Studios and the remainder came from support on H&F Hive fromm local backers.

Now the group intend to use the money raised to:

• Transform and replant the herbaceous border on the south side of the park
• Plant naturalising drifts of daffodils, narcissi and other spring bulbs in various locations
• Redesign and replant the beds throughout the park
• Maintain, feed, weed and prune the existing shrubbery

If you would like to get involved and join the Gardening Friends you can fill in the contact form or email info@wendellparkgardeningfriends.co.uk.

H&F Hive is open to communities wanting to raise funds for local events, make improvements to their environment or set up new services.

The council says it has another £189,000 available, the majority from contributions by developers, through the national Community Infrastructure Levy, which is designed to ensure the benefits of development projects are shared by local communities.

As well as raising funds from local people or organisations, people can now bid for small grants from the council. Wendell Park Gardening Friends and Barons Court Project have already received funds, and a range of other local projects are now also making bids for money.

For more details, visit the Hammersmith & Fulham Hive.

 

 

 

 

November 28, 2017