Restoration news

Havering Council recently awarded the contract for the park restoration to Borras Construction Limited and work began on 3rd December. We look forward to reviewing the schedule of work to understand how park users will be impacted. Further information will be shared when known. 

More information regarding Borras can be obtained via the below url

www.borrasconstruction.co.uk

MUSIC IN THE PARK 2012, "BRITS AT THEIR BEST"

MUSIC IN THE PARK 2012 - "BRITS AT THEIR BEST"

Thank you for letting us know what a fantastic afternoon you all had. As you know The Friends Summer Concert is organised completely by Volunteers, and what a fabulous job they made of it!  This year's "Music in the Park 2012", usually held in July, was brought forward to incorporate and celebrate our Gracious Queen's Diamond Jubilee, but after the washout of Saturday and Sunday we really didn't know if you would join us in the park! No worries there, record attendance achieved! Eight and a half thousand of you!After many months/days/hours and minutes agonizing over if we had got it right, our expectations were far exceeded. We were extremely touched by the huge show of support from our park users.

At 1pm, solo artist 'Rick Christian' opened the concert to an audience that was to continue to grow to our largest yet! Even the rain couldn't dampen the mood up went the umbrella's with the deckchairs remaining fiercely guarded, Rick played on. It was fabulous to see the good old British spirit shine through willing the clouds away and the sun came out for the rest of the day.

Our second act 'Copper Face Jack', raised the bar and our spirits a little farther, and by the time our last act, 'The New Serenaders', with their calypso tunes wafting in the summer breeze, it seemed summer had finally arrived! Raising the temperature and everyone's spirit just a little more with "Feeling Hot, Hot, Hot", our work was complete with the crowd taking to the green dance floor!

Leisure 2000 ensured the children were entertained with their excellent funfair. Alongside this, fantastic food was in plentiful supply all day long from our very own Wok Man, Hog Roast and the Park Café.

What a wonderful afternoon! We always say, "Boy that took some organising!" But every one of us is filled with pride and joy when we stand back and see what we have achieved. We sincerely hope we have shown what a great place Raphael’s Park is, and what a few very dedicated people can do.

Our many thanks to our brilliant team of volunteers, our sponsor A.C.Preou Limited, www.preou.co.uk , TimeFM,the Parks Protection Team and to you, our supporters, for taking the time out of your busy holiday schedules to spend a few precious hours in our lovely park on that very memorable Bank Holiday afternoon, because without you we couldn’t have raised a whopping £4300 to enable us to continue to support our beautiful parks!

Music In The Park 2012 - Programme & Friends Information Booklet

The programme of events for Music In The Park 2012 can be viewed/downloaded here

Additionally, The Friends of Raphael & Lodge Farm Parks Information Booklet can be viewed/downloaded here

Annual General Meeting minutes

Monday 27th February 2012
Romford Town Hall, Main Road, Romford
See end of minutes for attendee list
Meeting opened at 7:30pm / closed: 9:10pm

Welcome / Introduction / Apologies for Absence

Minutes of Previous Meeting

Change minutes location. All agreed minutes with this change made.

Annual Report 2011

JH presented the Annual Report. There is a short and long version. The short version was passed around the table and JH talked about on reflection how successful this last 12 months have been and how very proud we are of our achievements. The longer version gives full details of the groups activities throughout the year.

Presentation of Annual Accounts 2011

LO presented the accounts. In brief; our cash in hand £ 12,672.39, made up:- Bank Balance brought forward from 2010 = £4303.62, plus totalreceipts of £15,890.04. Less total payments amounted to £7,521.27. The Friends Group have had an excellent fund raising year as the bankbalance clearly reflects. It was also noted that a large chunk of monies will be spent in the next financial year to pay for the picnic area.

Official Friends Status

JH explained that we are presently preparing our application for 2012/13. JH briefly informed the meeting of the reason why we apply for Official Friends status and just what it entails. We touched on many aspects of this but particularly note that TP had distributed 1200 Winter Newsletters this January/February, much of the printing has been done by TP and JH with a contribution from LBH. JH thanked TP and his team of volunteers for spreading our word. JH and GP and NO agreed in respect of item 2 of the assessment criteria, the Friends would provide a delivery plan of our proposed picnic area. It was noted that we cannot provide milestones as our works are affected by pathway works in the woods, however we do know that we will be commissioning carvers to start our carvings in the next few months. We also discussed Item 11. It was agreed that Lens work with the Cubs/Beavers/Scouts Groups adequately represents this criteria, we also noted that we would provide details of these works with children in our detailed annual report which we will provide in addition to other assessmentcriteria.

Election of Committee Members

JH set out to the attendees how the Committee is made up, providing titles and job descriptions. We then gave the attendees a recess to allow them then pass vote to elect the Committee for 2012/13. It was agreed by all present that the Committee remains in tact. A list ofCommittee members appears at the foot of these minutes. It was also note that TP's title will be changed to incorporate his website works.

Lake & Park Regeneration

Park - NO and GP agreed that not much has happened to update the group. DS has been on holiday and upon his return will bereading through the PQQ's. Once these have been filtered through, Main Contractors will be invited to tender for the works. GP agreed works will not start until earliest September 2012. NO, GP and JH agreed that we all need to attend a site visit to ascertain which trees will be felled and where new ones are to be planted. JH to email Landscape Architects for meeting date, preferably 7thMarch.

Lake DD outlined the planned planting of border reeds to the lake and how this will improve the lakes biodiversity. DD confirmed the lake has a cormorant infestation and these works will start to ease the preditation of small fish and invertebrates. DD has secured funding from the Environment Agency for 2011, 2012 and 2013. This provides £30,000 to FORP along with the agreementof LBH and Project Boards to progress these works. DD confirmed that Ash Girdler of AGA can attend a meeting at 9am on the 7th March. JH to contact Project Board to confirm date/time.

Any Other Business

Peter Farrell and Andy Storey are new attendee’s to our meetings and have very kindly offered to volunteer any skills they may haveto help our reach our aims and objectives. For which we thanked them, Len and Trevor arranged to meet them at our March litterpick to get started. Peter is particularly interested in the lake area and Andy Lodge Farm Park.

JH to confirmed our informal meeting will take place on 5th March as usual. JH to email committee members reminder.

NO and GP advised meeting of the Mayors receipt of a tree from HRH to plant in a prominent park in Havering. The Mayor has asked if the Black Poplar could be planted in Raphael Parks pleasure ground close to the lake as it needs a damp and moist environment. The only reservations the Project Board may have is that this tree can grow to 100’ tall. This will be discussed at ournext Project Board meeting and JH will inform FORP of outcome.

Robert McWilliams (RPRFC) confirmed that the club had met with Martin Stanton last month and they took a look inside another parks pavilion to see layout to get an idea what can be done in our pavilion. Robert and John are waiting to hear back from Martin.John will contact JH to update FORP of outcome and application for funding from Veolia Havering Riverside Trust.


Date of Next meeting
Monday 21st May 2012 - confirmed
Town Hall, Main Road, Romford
Attendee & Absence List
Julia Herold (JH) FORP Chairman
Len Oatham (LO) FORP Treasurer
Nigel Oxley (NO) LBH Historic Building & Landscape Officer
Robert McWilliams (RM) Raphael Park Rovers Football Club – Chairman
Trevor Preedy (TP) FORP Volunteer & Website Coordinator
Theresa Miller (TM) Volunteer
Tom Hollinrake (TH) member of the public
Betty Hollinrake (BH) member of the public
David Drury (DD) FORP Lake Regeneration Manger
Andy Storey (AS) member of the public
Geoff Pepper (GP) LBH Parks Services
Peter Farrell (PF) member of the public

Apologies
Richard Hollis Webmaster
Don Hodgekiss FORP Editor & Press Officer
Don Stewart LBH Project Manager
Sue Mackenzie FORP Secretary
Martin Stanton LBH Head of Parks
List of Committee Members – No particular Order
Julia Herold Chairman
Len Oatham Treasurer
Trevor Preedy Volunteer & Website Coordinator
David Drury Lake Regeneration Manger
Richard Hollis Webmaster
Don Hodgekiss Editor & Press Officer
Sue Mackenzie Secretary

Year Ending 31^st December 2011

ANNUAL REPORT – A word from the Chairman

For the Friends of Raphael & Lodge Farm Park, this year has been amazingly successful. We have raised a huge amount of money hosting events and fundraising through large corporation, it is without doubt that our incredible team of volunteers had pulled out all-stops.

Three years of planning, discussing and striving came to a head in July this year when we together with the London Borough of Havering, were given the fantastic news that the Raphael Park, Stage II, Heritage Lottery Fund £1,787.700.00 application had been successful and that Veolia Havering Riverside Trust had pledged a further £200,000.00. Thanks to Havering, for putting this bid together and for believing in our Park and Friends Group. Together we will make a difference.

In addition to the HLF and Veolia monies, our Lake Regeneration Manager David Drury had been liaising with the Environment Agency to assist in improving our lake and its biodiversity. Our efforts were rewarded in August, when we were awarded £10,000. With a further £10,000 being promised for a further two years.

So to summarise over the next three years our park is to receive a *£2,693,365.00 restoration and a ten year maintenance plan. The £6,607.00 we have raised from our quiz nights and summer concert will compliment these restoration works with a picnic area in the woodland. We are extremely proud of our great team of volunteers, who are dedicated to our aims and objectives, to ensure that Raphael & Lodge Farm parks, are a fun and safe place for all to enjoy and, to protect and preserve for future generations.

We would like to thank our great team for all your effort and dedication. Thank our sponsor A.C.Preou Limited for their unwavering support. Thank The Heritage Lottery Fund, Veolia Riverside Trust and London Borough of Havering for helping us realise our ‘2004 Wish List’. Finally we would like to thank all the park users and those that have attended our fund raising events who have helped make this all possible.

For a full detailed list of our activities through out this year please see the attached Activity and Achievement Annual Report.

Yours truly,

Julia Herold

Chairman

*It should be noted that these large sums of money are not banked with the Friends group, they are held in named accounts by the London Borough of Havering

Annual Report 2011

Activates & Achievements

Litter Picks

Mid-week litter pick: takes place at 10am, 1^st Tuesday of each month, Len Oatham meets volunteers at the Café.

Weekend litter pick; takes place at 10am, 3^rd Sunday of each month, Trevor Preedy meets at Raphael Park playground.

We are in our fourth year of litter picking in both Raphael and Lodge Farm Parks, with a regular attendance of 9 people on a Tuesday. Trevor’s started our weekend litter picks in July this year, it takes place 10am on the 3rd Sunday each month, the team is building nicely with 3 to 4 regular helpers.

Linking up with the Younger Generation & Other Volunteer Groups:

On the 1^st June, Len assisted HAVCO with the Pact Youth Group in Raphael Park’. Len helped the children litter pick and having recently completed his guided walk training Len was able to entertain the youngsters a short history of Raphael Park.

Len also arranged litter-picks with a group of autistic children supported by HAVCO volunteers.

Len also arranged a litter-pick with the Beaver colony from 3^rd Squirrels Heath. Len said it was very gratifying to have the children help and see them having fun too.

We were also very grateful to the children of the Cubs and Scouts from the 3^rd Gidea Park Group, who with the help of their Leaders and Len tidied our flowerbeds and took part in numerous litter picks throughout the year.

The Friends & Havering

Park Olympic Sports Day

Sport Havering held a pre-Olympic Sports Day in Raphael Park in May this year, to help out we provided shelter and refreshments for the competitors. We also took the opportunity to enlist a few new volunteers too.

Havering Green Spaces

Havering Green Spaces forum is now holding regular meetings; we are being represented at these by Len.

Havering Guided Walks Project

We were approached by the Regeneration and Strategic Planning Dept. who with the aid of funding from the Heritage Lottery Fund was developing guided walks in Gidea Park, Hornchurch and Harold Hill. Len took up the challenge on behalf of FORP to research Gidea Park’s rich heritage. When the guided walk routes were officially launched Len donned a costume to walk one of the three new routes. We hope to have our quarterly guided walks up and running late 2012.

Mayor of London – Community Reception

Julia attended the Mayor’s community reception on May 10^th. It was a great opportunity to meet and network with like-minded people.

Fund Raising & Raising Awareness

Quiz Nights

This year we held two quiz nights at St. Michael’s Church Hall. Included in the ticket price was a Fish and Chip Supper. Both events were fully supported with over 140 people at each, in total raising a whopping £2000.

Music in the Park

Our summer fundraiser this year, “Music In The Park 2011” was a huge success. We were inundated with many compliments to our team of volunteers for hosting such a well-organized and extremely enjoyable day. We are very proud of our fantastic team achievements and thank them for their time and dedication. We raised £2400.00. Which will enable us to continue to support our aims and objectives; to ensure that Raphael & Lodge Farm parks are a fun and safe place for all, and of course to enable us to host events such as this.

Heritage Lottery Funding and Veolia Havering Riverside Trust

It is with great pride that the Friends of Raphael & Lodge Farm Parks were able to announce together with the London Borough of Havering that the Raphael’s Park HLF Stage II Application for the £1,787,700.00 grant was successful. Together with further funding from Veolia Havering Riverside Trust and the London Borough of Havering, bringing the total refurbishment budget to £2,663,365.00. We are very proud to be part of the project team and are delighted that our park will most definitely be preserved for future generations.

Environment Agency

Further to many meetings with the Environment Agency, we were awarded with a £10,000 grant to start work on regenerating the park lake. A further £10,000 has been promised for year 2012/2013 and 2013/2014. This grant is all down to our David Drury’s determination to get our lake back in tip-top condition. Works will start mid to late 2012.

Official Friends Group Project

Our chosen project, the Raphael Park Picnic Area came second in the this years £5000 funding competition. Whilst we missed out on the funding to Harold Wood Park Friends group were still consider taking our project forward with our own monies, although we did not nearly have enough money to complete it as we wished. However late this year the winning Friends Group returned the funding to Havering who then passed the monies onto us. We were absolutely delighted and can confirm that Nick Butterworth has given us permission to have a carving of Percy the Park Keeper and some of his woodland friends. Nick has also very kindly agreed to provide us with drawings to enable our first class carvers to bring Percy back to the Park. Our carvers are based at Knebworth House and will provide an on-site carving day for park users to watch them at work, later in next year they will be displaying some of our commissioned works before they are delivered to us. The final fix will take place once the pathway refurbishment works get underway.

Park Maintenance

Friends Sponsored Flowerbed

We are now in our second year of stocking and maintaining our sponsored flowerbed in Raphael Park. Len and Don together with the scouts ensured that our beds were in tip-top condition.

Friends Sponsored Water Lilies

Len and Don along with Gary from Parks Maintenance Team, took to the water and planted ten water lilies at the northern end of the lake. We hope to see a colourful display of lilies next summer, we just hope the young plants haven’t been eaten by the lakes inhabitants.

Bulb Planting

Again Len and Don donned their gardening gear and stuck into planting over a thousand daffodil bulbs in the woods and various flower beds.

Community Group Support - ACP Ltd Mission Statement

UPDATED: 19/01/12

Community Group Support
ACP Ltd Mission Statement

With the company based and having ties in Havering for a lifetime, it is without doubt this family business has always understood the need and importance of local community, our commitment is deep rooted.

With the consequences of global warming and climate change becoming ever clearer, we believe it's imperative for us to help understand, preserve and understand our impact on the environment.

Our staff are passionate about understanding the natural world and combating the exploitation of our green spaces. We believe local business has a key role to play here, and it was decided that it was up to us to help make a difference. "A.C. Preou Limited were to be an integral part of this".

We were delighted when Julia took our ideals a step further. Since the birth of her children it became clear as to how we could help. We understand the benefits of a safe and clean environment and of its importance to our children's development. To ensure they have a safe, fun, clean green space, which they can explore, learn to appreciate nature and the natural world and, understand the role they can play in preserving our planet.

In November 2004 Julia created a Wish List for her children's favourite park, and invited all local residents to attend the first meeting of what was to become a strong and committed Friends Group. Achieving the high expectations of the Wish List proved to be an humongous task, but the volunteer's efforts have paid off. The formation of the Friends Group proved to be the catalyst in leading the way to the Refurbishment and Regeneration of Raphael Park.

The support and sponsorship that A.C.Preou Limted provide, enables the Friends of Raphael & Lodge Farm Parks to;

- promote the importance of the parks and their natural environment and eco-systems, thereby ensuring the maintenance of the park and its facilities
- ensure the parks facilities remain in tact for the whole community
- promote the park by organising the Raphael Park annual Summer Event. Our office staff happily volunteer their time to help out during the run up to, and on the day
- be part of the project management team preparing the application to Heritage Lottery and overseeing the community interests in the £2,663,365.00, Park Regeneration Works, which the London Borough of Havering were awarded funding in July 2011
- project manage the Lake Regeneration works. Funding was awarded to the Friends Group by the Environment Agency in May 2011
- liaison between the community and local authority (meetings during working hours)
- we also provide a meeting room, office machinery facilities, stationery and company vehicles

A.C.Preou Limited are making a real difference to the community in the support they provide. "We have a long term commitment to helping, supporting and being part of The Friends of Raphael & Lodge Farm Parks." Arthur Preou, Director.

We thank you for taking the time to read our mission and would urge you to support the Friends of Raphael & Lodge Farm Park by visiting their website www.forlfp.org and becoming a Friend.

"Preou, helping Havering be a better place"