FRIENDS OF WATERLOO SEAFRONT GARDENS
TRUSTEES REPORT 2021/2022
This has been our first, full, post-covid year and the first without the disruption of the lockdowns, so there has been a lot to catch up with in the gardens. The Committee met on 11 occasions, to progress the aims and commitments of the Friends in maintaining and restoring the gardens to the best standards possible within our means, for the ongoing benefit of the community. We are able to do this thanks to a close working partnership with the Green Sefton Team.
Following the last AGM, we welcomed a new Chair (Doll)and a new Secretary (Andrew)
I would like to thank all the Trustees for their dedicated hard work and commitment to the ongoing success of the Friends
VOLUNTEER REPORT AND RELATED PROJECTS
During the past year our volunteers have spent many hours litter picking and gardening.
There have been twice monthly gardening sessions, averaging 5-6 volunteers each time.
Extra sessions were added over the summer months to help catch up with the routine work and projects delayed due to the pandemic.
Teams continued to work on tidying paths and edges, weeding and planting the rockery in Marine and the central flower bed in Crescent and the larger project of clearing the pond in Beach Lawn.
83 volunteers worked for a total of 168 hours over one weekend in February and subsequent Sundays to clear vast amounts of grass, weed and reeds, to expose the brick edging of the pond and the water itself, which could barely be seen due to the overgrowth of reeds. Work also started on clearing the watercourse which runs from the higher rocks into the pond so the water supply can now be turned on to top up the water level in the pond during exceptionally dry periods. Wildlife has returned to the pond and many comments have been received from the public which show appreciation by the local community of the work done by the Friends. Clearance of the watercourse is ongoing and more clearance of the pond itself is planned for the new year.
Our volunteer numbers were boosted this year in May, when a group from Natural England assisted with the path clearance and edging in Crescent Garden. We would also like to acknowledge the work carried out by the Community Pay Back teams whose contribution was a great help in keeping the gardens litter free and removing the heavy sods of grass and reeds from the pond edge to the gate ready for collection by the Council.
We had 185 people attending the monthly litter picking sessions, averaging 15 volunteers each time.
Our volunteers have often continued with gardening tasks when there were more than sufficient numbers to litter pick.
A special mention for one of our young volunteers who used her experience towards her Duke of Edinburgh Award, which we were very happy to endorse.
Thanks to all our volunteers who give their time to keep our gardens and surroundings tidy and attractive during our regular sessions, as well as at other times on an individual basis. Particular mention to Gareth and Andrew for the extra work they do in the gardens.
Special thanks to Janet, who keeps our volunteer records, organises the sessions and supplies the well needed refreshments.
Both the litter picking and gardening sessions have been made easier by the recent purchase of a motorised trolley to aid the transport of tools etc. to the required site. This purchase has been possible through a grant we were able to access from the Burbo Bank Extension Community Fund.
Many thanks to Karen for obtaining the grant and sourcing the trolley.
A further aid to our work is the allocation by the Council of a small area of their storage facility at Beach Lawn, in which to store our larger equipment such as gazebos. This will make a big difference to our storage capacity. The move is imminent at the time of report.
Last item to mention under this section is the purchase of 18 Waterloo Roses at a cost of £343.80. These have been bought to fill in gaps and replace the diseased and damaged ones at Potter’s Barn.
Thanks to Janet for facilitating this project which has been fully paid for from our own funds.
The roses will be planted at the appropriate time.
COMMITTEE PROJECTS REPORT
Brickwork Renovation. We are looking to continue the renovation work around the bench bays in Crescent Garden and to this end we have been successful in obtaining a grant from the Council through Section 106 monies. We are hopeful that work will commence in the Spring when the weather is more clement. Thanks to Karen and Frank who have been instrumental in getting this project off the ground again.
Notice Boards. Another project which has come to fruition this year has been the purchase and erection of new notice boards just inside the entrances of the 4 seafront gardens. The style of the new boards is more in keeping with the history of the gardens and each now displays the name of the individual garden. The boards were paid for with a match funded grant from the Council, to which we contributed £3,540. They are very useful in advertising volunteer sessions, fund raising events and council information. Many thanks to Karen and Janet for their work on this project.
PUBLICITY / SOCIAL MEDIA / MEMBERSHIP
The Friends continues to have a strong on-line presence. In addition to our website we have a number of active social media platforms. Our Facebook page has 2,647 followers with a monthly reach of between 8 and 10,000 people. Volunteer activities and dates are published alongside photographs of our work in the gardens.
In addition to this we have an active Twitter account with 2,622 followers and an Instagram account with 396 followers.
Thanks to Karen who manages our social media presence and to Malcolm Marriot of Berkley Media for his help with the website.
We currently have 95 members.
A new membership payment system via PayPal is under discussion for the new financial year.
ACTIVITIES AND EVENTS IN THE GARDENS
Autumn Festival
This was our first fund raising festival since the pandemic. The Committee decided to re-name the event as the interest in the scarecrow side had been diminishing over the previous years.
A small sub-committee of 4 met regularly from early in the year to plan, organise and co-ordinate the event. The festival was held on the 17th September, the weather was kind and we attracted many visitors to our stalls and attractions. Thanks to all who helped to make the day a success, enabling us to raise £1,351.50 for our funds.
Book Sales
Book sales were held in June and August, raising £ 403.90 in total for our funds. Thanks to Jim for managing the storage, sorting and selling of the books and Frank who helped greatly with transport. Thanks to all volunteers who helped with the setting up and selling.
Local Giving Account
Remains very active, having generated £ 170 in the last year. Thanks to all who regularly donate to the Friends in this way.
The World Re-Imagined
The Friends were pleased to be part of this project involving the installation of globes of various sizes across Merseyside. A globe was installed just inside the South Road entrance of Marine Garden in early August. Unfortunately, within a few days, it had been vandalised and for Health and Safety reasons was removed.
Yoga in the park on Saturday morning remains a popular activity.
A final thank you to all our members for their continuing support.
D. Bromilow Chair FoWSG 22.11.2022
| FRIENDS OF WATERLOO SEAFRONT GARDENS. YEAR END 31/08/2022 |
|
|---|---|
| Opening Balance at bank 01/09/2021 £9,330. 81 |
|
| INCOME | |
| Bank Income | |
| SANTANDER ACCOUNT | |
| Local Giving (Current Total see attached sheet) 2,048.58 |
|
| Donation Post 64.18 |
|
| Donations 260.00 |
|
| Grantscape - Grant Receipt for Powered Trolley 26/04/20 22 2,250.00 |
|
| Grantscape - Grant Receipt 08/06/20 22 250.00 |
|
| Book Sale 13/06/20 22 164.50 |
|
| Book Sale 16/08/20 22 213.90 |
|
| World of Books - Book Sale 19/08/20 22 27.72 |
|
| PayPal Receipt 20/08/20 22 0.01 |
|
| 5,278.89 | |
| Cash Receipts | |
| Debtors 0.00 |
|
| None | |
| INCOME £5,278. 89 |
|
| Bank Expenditure Cheque Date |
|
| SANTANDER ACCOUNT | |
| Janet Markland - Thank you gift for Treasurer (Voucher) BACS 10/09/20 21 50.00 |
|
| Practical Action - Donation in Memory of Don Stewart Card Payment 11/09/20 21 30.00 |
|
| Unlimited Website - Domain Renewal BACS 10/12/20 21 7.19 |
|
| Sefton Council for Voluntary Service - Account Audit BACS 21/12/20 21 75.00 |
|
| Janet Markland - Leaving Gift for David Jackson BACS 25/01/20 22 50.00 |
|
| Janet Markland - Flowers for Caroline Guerin for services as |
|
| Chairman BACS 25/01/20 22 35.00 |
|
| Caroline Guerin - AGM Expenses BACS 25/01/20 22 166.00 |
|
| Sefton MBC - Gardens Notice Boards BACS 08/02/20 22 3,540.00 |
|
| Janet Markland - Refreshments £23.65 |
|
| Gardening BACS 13/03/20 374.96 |
| Equipment £351.31 22 |
||
|---|---|---|
| Handle-it - Powered Trolley BACS 28/04/20 22 3,790.80 |
||
| Unlimited Web Hosting BACS 07/05/20 22 47.88 |
||
| Janet Markland - Gardening Equipment BACS 16/06/20 22 32.37 |
||
| Local GivingCharges Direct Debit 13/07/20 22 96.00 |
||
| 8,295.20 | ||
| Cash Payments | ||
| Creditors 0.00 |
||
| None | ||
| EXPENDITURE | £8,295. 20 |
|
| GAIN(LOSS) | - £3,016. 31 |
|
| CLOSING BANK BALANCE 31/08/2022 |
£6,314. 50 |
I confirm this to be a true and accurate statement
Signed (Treasurer)
Signed (Chairman)
Signed (Secretary)
Andrew Khodabukus