Friends of Memorial Park Task Days in 2024
Here are details of our task days in 2024.
We normally hold them between 10am and 1pm on the last Saturday of each month in the winter and the middle and last Saturday from spring until November:
If you are interested becoming a volunteer with us please get in touch and we will add you to our Task Day notifications.
Volunteers are welcome to join in for as long or as short they wish during the specified times.
Please note that children and young people under 18 must be accompanied by a responsible adult.
Task Day & Treasure Hunt 29 June 2024
Deputy Mayor finds families treasure Memorial Park and its volunteers!
This week we held the annual Treasure Hunt, with 18 clues round the park for letters which spelt out a mystery word. The reward was chocolate money for those who got it right (or who made a good effort!) We know this is hugely enjoyed by families who attended in their numbers. Thanks to the members of the team who organised this free event and to our generous sponsors Nurture Nursery. Thanks also for the support we had from Sarah and Emma from the Coffee Bean Dream and Kevin from the Carnival Committee.
We were delighted to be joined by the Deputy Mayor of Stockport, Cllr Kerry Waters, who was very impressed by the park, our volunteers efforts and the event itself. We are always grateful for Stockport MBC support in this way.
Meanwhile, we also managed to have a full task day with lots of volunteers as well as those on the Treasure Hunt. We tidied up the bed at the back of the toilet block, and weeded and levelled up a bed on the clinic side of Hollins House, where some soil seems to have been dumped over the months. This bed is now ready for some planting next time. The fruit and veg beds are coming on well and we did some ever needed weeding on our flower beds.
Task Day 21 June 2024
Special task day to create small beds at the COVID Memorial
We recently decided to add a bit of plant life to the COVID memorial in the park. On 21 June 2024 a small group of volunteers put in a few rosemary plants (signifying remembrance) either side of the memorial. It's also worth mentioning that the large H section top capping stone was found to have become loose. This is now in safe storage until it can be properly refixed.
Follow this link to read more about the COVID Commemoration Project.
Task Day 08 June 2024
Mixed weather but we're ready for Marple Carnival!
This weekend's task day was punctuated with showers but also lovely sunshine. We wanted to get the park in good shape for next weekend's Carnival, so we did some weeding and edging on the flower beds, and trimmed some hedges. We also did our normal litter pick and tended the allotment beds, which are now showing some good growth. Some of the slats on the play park fence needed to be replaced too. Meanwhile, we were pleased to see that the Council has repaired the roof of the former Bowling Pavilion after we spotted a damaged ridge tile.
Task Day 25 May 2024
Could it be true that the sun shines on the righteous?
A glorious sunny day for our task day. The recent warm wet weather had meant rapid growth of weeds as well as growth of the flowers and shrubs in the flower beds and the allotment beds. An excellent turnout of volunteers did much hoeing, weeding, edging and careful hedge trimming as well as planting the new bedding plants.
We tidied up the wooded area by cleaning tree trunks, pulling up saplings and doing some pruning. The grass in the band garden was mowed and the area tidied up. Litter picking, clearing round the main park entrance and a major snail hunt within the hostas in the flower beds were other tasks successfully carried out. A really good and enjoyable task day.
Task Day 11 May 2024
Beautiful weather for our regular task day and it was great to see the Park being used to the full.
Our jobs included getting the beds ready for the summer flowers bought from the Scouts and Guides, which will go in next time. We also trimmed edges and hedges and actually needed to water the recently planted allotment area. We also tidied up some fallen branches in the woodland area.
Task Day 27 April 2024
Dry at last for a really good task day!
Some dry weather at last allowed us to have a concentrated attack on the weeds in the flowerbeds and to tidy up and prune the bushes near the Band Room. The wildflower bed is developing well now but as some will know this is a longer term project that takes time to give a colourful result. We were delighted to have four new volunteers to join our band of regulars. This meant we had over 20 working away in the park, so thanks to everyone and to those passers-by who put some much appreciated change into our collection box.
Just a note for those who have read the great article in Marple Review. We have, since this article was written, decided to keep with the pattern of two task days a month during Summer.
Task Day 13 April 2024
April showers don't stop our volunteers caring for the park
Despite a showery day lots of volunteers worked through the rain, concentrating on weeding all the flower beds.
We also planted seeds in the vegetable and fruit raised allotment beds, so we hope to get some produce growing later in the year.
Task Day 30 March 2024
End of an era for Friends of Marple Memorial Park
A fine sunny day and an excellent turnout of volunteers marked a changing of the guard for Friends of the Park. This was supposed to be the final task day that Mark and Gill would lead but unfortunately Gill had to be elsewhere due to a family illness and it was left to Mark to handover her trowel and his keys to incoming chairman Malcolm Allan.
Although Gill couldn't be there, it's great that Bob Wilson could, exactly 10 years to the day after he retired as the last fulltime Park Keeper.
Task Day 24 February 2024
The sunshine was a lovely welcome for our first task day of the year!
Our task days are off to a slow start this year due to other commitments of Mark and Gill who normally lead them. They are sadly winding down their involvement in the group over the coming couple of months, and this is expected to be the penultimate task day they will lead. The last should be Saturday 30 March, if other demands on their time allow.
Although the weather was great the park is still incredibly wet, so volunteers focused on removing the grass that has been taking hold on the French Boules Court, and a good cut-back and tidy-up of the War Memorial Beds. An overdue litter-pick was also completed and volunteers admired the tidy-up of our store during tea break!
New volunteer task leaders needed
The group is appealing for new volunteers who would like to get involved in leading task days. Spaces are currently available for task leader and power-tools training with the council on Saturday 20 April 2024 to get you started. So if this is of interest, now is the perfect time to sign-up! Please get in touch here.
