November 2024 ## 2023-2024 # **Trustees Report** Crescent Garden, June 2024, : Photography by RK Photography Bas A cox Pgh . sc se an eRe Liverpool Cae me Se[ar] cleey eea BeeEe Registered Charity 1169385 contact@fowsg.co.uk Friends of Waterloo Seafront Gardens ## **TABLE OF CONTENTS** **3** Who We Are **6** **5** **7** Potter's Barn Marine Garden Crescent Garden **8** **9** **10** Adelaide Garden Beach Lawn Garden Autumn Festival **13** Accounts **14** Gratitude **11** Impact **----- Start of picture text -----**
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Clearing invasive bulrushes, , February
2024, Beach Lawn
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## **Who we are** Friends of Waterloo Seafront Gardens help the local authority to care for the Waterloo Seafront Gardens - five separate spaces where the city meets the sea. We want to maintain and restore the Gardens as an attractive and safe area for all ages and abilities to use for recreation and environmental wellbeing. **----- Start of picture text -----**
Spring, Adelaide Garden
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Website: http://www.fowsg.co.uk/ ## **What we do** ## **Protecting** Maintaining the Gardens for the pleasure of local people through weekly volunteer sessions, include regular litter picking. Friends of Waterloo Seafront Gardens ## **Preserving** The weekly volunteer sessions include gardening activities where we renovate beds and the special features in our Gardens. ## **Rebuilding** Fundraising to preserve the heritage of the Gardens through online donations second hand book and card sales and our annual Autumn Festival. Registered Charity 1169385 contact@fowsg.co.uk Friends of Waterloo Seafront Gardens : = rs 4 = ; me a im - i : E 7 ' i ie see sy: al “he Ps ee 1, nt Fm a a | slap oth peeray, ia i eto **Protecting our** ot 4 ao os RE Ee EN Saat LH ORES) ae Cage TA Mat nee Nene ne ace ee ‘a tt *~ keris Le E - 1 * fie i VD po ie ies He Beach Lawn, January 2024 ghee **spaces** Ese tenet fare ae sti SANNA TE ama hPaA AGk oS SEP **N** UESRECES The Friends of Waterloo Seafront Gardens was set up in 2009 to help Sefton Metropolitan Borough Council look after the Waterloo Seafront Gardens. Since 2016, we have been a charity. > Volunteer Session, March 2024, Potter's Barn —— ee ei eid Sook ## **Potter's Barn** Potter's Barn is a lively park with great facilities for dog walkers and skaters alike. It is also a green lung by the main road and this year we have seen our roses bloom following 2022's fundraising campaign. In 2025, we are looking to continue to revamp the area next to the Crosby Road South entrance. Waterloo Rose, July 2024 Friends of Waterloo Seafront Gardens Registered Charity 1169385 contact@fowsg.co.uk Twelfth Night Production from Wanderlust Theatre Company July 2024 ## **Marine Garden** Marine Garden - along with Crescent Garden – act as the two entry points for the Gardens from South Road. The Garden has a substantial rockery, bog garden and large lawned area. It also hosts our annual Autumn Festival. This year we have continued to maintain the honeycomb paving at the base of the rockery. We were also pleased to partner with the Wanderlust Theatre Company for a performance of _Twelfth Night._ We are grateful to DEFRA and Royal Sun Alliance for their support with their corporate action days. Royal Sun Alliance, Marine Garden, July 2024 Friends of Waterloo Seafront Gardens Registered Charity 1169385 contact@fowsg.co.uk ## **Crescent Garden** As our largest Garden, there is always much to do in Crescent. In 2024 we have continued to clear back overgrown mats of grass to uncover the original 1930s edging. Thank you to our members, volunteers and Crown Commercial Services who have continued to partner with us. CCSs work over the last two years has really made a difference. **----- Start of picture text -----**
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The Team from Crown Commercial Srvices,
Crescent Garden, May 2024
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Registered Charity 1169385 contact@fowsg.co.uk ## **Adelaide Garden** Adelaide is one of our most elegant Gardens with a pleasing symmetry to it. **----- Start of picture text -----**
Canine Volunteers, Adelaide
September 2024
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We were pleased to team up with Sefton4Good this year who have promoted our volunteer days as part of the Sefton “50 at 50” scheme. The trustees are keen to do further work in Adelaide in 2025 and the council’s winter works will prepare the central bed for planting. Sefton 4 Good, Adelaide Garden, October 2024 Friends of Waterloo Seafront Gardens Registered Charity 1169385 contact@fowsg.co.uk Stone Restoration, Beach Lawn, July 2024 ## **Beach Lawn** We had a further set of action days in Beach Lawn to continue the work of clearing the invasive bulrushes which have taken over much of the area. We have also worked on the ravine and rockery area to uncover stone ornamental areas along the path. a Beach Lawn, Jan 2022 ero tae Lathe BCLane es! ceanape age say tanaemoana Beach Lawn, February 2024 Friends of Waterloo Seafront Gardens Registered Charity 1169385 contact@fowsg.co.uk ## Autumn Festival, September 2024 ## **Autumn Festival** The Autumn Festival took place on Saturday 14th September 2024. We hosted a number of stalls from independent providers, children’s games, a steam train, Sefton Libraries reading session and our array of refreshments and plant sales. The dedication of the organising committee and the good weather made this our most successful Festival to date. Friends of Waterloo Registered Charity 1169385 Seafront Gardens contact@fowsg.co.uk Friends of Waterloo Registered Charity 1169385 Seafront Gardens contact@fowsg.co.uk **----- Start of picture text -----**
Instagram
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## **Our Impact** **57,000 2,628** Our maximum monthly Twitter/X Follows reach on Facebook **6%** Increase in Facebook followers The Friends continues to have a strong on-line presence. In addition to our web-site we have a number of active social media platforms. Thanks to Karen Abram who manages our social media presence with great aplomb and to Malcolm Marriott of Barkeley Media for his help with the website www.fowsg.co.uk @fowsg1 @fowsg1 @fowsg FriendsOfWaterlooSeafrontGardens Registered Charity 1169385 contact@fowsg.co.uk Friends of Waterloo Seafront Gardens Volunteers, Crescent Garden, May 2024 ## ——_=£{= **Our Impact** ## **156 hours 33 volunteers** Litter Picking ## **401 hours 24 volunteers** Gardening "Start where you are. Use what you have. Do what you can." Arthur Ashe Come Rain or Shine! August 2024 Friends of Waterloo Seafront Gardens Registered Charity 1169385 contact@fowsg.co.uk ## **Friends of Waterloo Seafront Gardens Accounts - - - 01 September 2023 to 31 August 2024** |Opening Balance at bank 01/09/2023|Opening Balance at bank 01/09/2023|Opening Balance at bank 01/09/2023|Opening Balance at bank 01/09/2023|£6,679.68| |---|---|---|---|---| |**INCOME**||||| |_Bank Income_||||| |Local Giving|||1,123.60|| |Subscriptions and Memberships|||20.00|| |Donation Posts|||23.36|| |Donations|||20.00|| |Autumn Festival 2023 - Stall Deposits|||10.00|| |Autumn Festival 2023 - PayPal Card Machine|||162.00|| |Autumn Festival 2023 - Cash Takings|||1627.77|| |Sefton Council for Voluntary Services - Heritage Grant|||1635.00|| |Autumn Festival 2024 - Stall Deposits|||40.00|| |Cash Receipts||||| |Debtors|None||0.00|| |**INCOME**||||£4,661.73| |**EXPENSES**||||| |Festival Expenses 2023|||303.82|| |Plants & Bark|||35.96|| |Gardening Equipment|||269.37|| |Equipment Security|||12.75|| |Volunteer Refeshments and Thanks|||130.43|| |Public Liability Insurance|||398.19|| |AGM Expenses|||176.70|| |Fundraising Charges|||180.00|| |PayPal Charges|||3.07|| |External Services - Beach Lawn Pond|||150.00|| |Volunteer and Publiciity Posters and Flyers|||77.50|| |Cash Payments|Creditors||0.00|| ||Website Payments||67.07|| |**EXPENDITURE**||||£1,804.86| |**GAIN(LOSS)**||||£2,856.97| |Closing Balance 31/08/2024||||£9,536.55| Closing Balance 31/08/2024 Friends of Waterloo Seafront Gardens Registered Charity 1169385 contact@fowsg.co.uk ## **Gratitude** Members of FoWSG Trustees of FoWSG Crown Commercial Services Royal Sun Alliance Sefton CVS Sefton4Good The Victoria Pub DEFRA Plant Health Agency Malcolm Marriott, Barkeley Media Green Sefton Angela Griffiths, Green Sefton Cllrs Cummins, Veidman and Webster George and David Howells Kerry Pavey, Sefton Council Tess Almond, Tony Almond Home & Garden, 52-54 South Road, Waterloo, L22 5PQ Claire Magill, Magill’s Nurseries, Leasowe Rd, Wallasey, CH45 8LW •- > www.fowsg.co.uk ~~___~~ @fowsg1 @fowsg1 @fowsg FriendsOfWaterlooSeafrontGardens