**Friends of Gosforth Central Park** **Charity Number 1171862** ## **Trustees’ Annual Review 2025** ## **Volunteers are at the heart of what we do** Volunteering continued throughout the year to keep Gosforth Central Park in good condition, attractive to park users and attractive to wildlife. Between them our volunteers have a huge range of skills and talents. And we continue to attract new ones. From a pool of about forty regular volunteers, Monday morning attendance over the year averaged out at just over 23. The lowest attendance of 14 was on a fine Monday in June; our highest of 30 was on 10 November - the day we moved back into our own Hut. Outside of the main Monday sessions many hours were worked by the Trustees and others on such tasks as maintenance of tools and equipment, watering flowering plants, liaison with the City Council and other outside bodies, and the administration of the charity. ## **Urban Green Newcastle and Newcastle City Council** In March 2025 responsibility for parks and allotments transferred from Urban Green Newcastle to Newcastle City Council. The move seems to have made little difference to the running of Gosforth Central Park and we continue to benefit from the excellent support of our Rangers and others. Two FOGCP volunteers continue to carry out regular inspections of the Children’s Playground on behalf of the Council. The Council has stepped up its efforts to find tenants for the Bulman Club, the Mens Pavilion and bowling green, and the toilet block and part of the Quiet Area green. ## **The Park and the Community** The Hut on the Green, which opened in September 2024, has rapidly become an integral part of the Park and a good friend to the Friends. We have much to thank them for - not least the stencilled mural that has quite transformed our hut. Gosforth Central (previously Gosforth Shopping Centre) have kept up their now established activities - Royalty Cinema, theatre and monthly market - all of which bring enormous benefit to the Park and the locality. And, we are FOGCP Trustees’ Review 2025 Page of 1 4 **Friends of Gosforth Central Park** **Charity Number 1171862** particularly grateful to them for again hosting our Christmas Wreath Making event. Archibald First School continue to make good use of the Park with staff and children making another October visit to plant bulbs and rake autumn leaves. The Remembrance Sunday parade and service - organised by local churches - was very well attended. ## **Back in our Hut** In October 2025 we at long last were able to move back into our Hut - one year and one week on from the fire that kept us out. Over that period we based ourselves in the redundant Mens Pavilion and bowling green. Our resilient volunteers adapted well to the resulting changes and the extra demands on their workload. ## **Our supporters** Although we benefit from the support of Park Rangers and other Council services, the Park is largely looked after by volunteers and funded by voluntary donations - including by gift aided standing order, the EasyFundRaising scheme and coins and notes in our flowerpot. In these times of poor public funding, we rely on such generosity. We have also received a number of donated shrubs, trees and plants including, from time to time, Sainsbury’s discarded pot plants, many of which we are able to revive. Sainsbury’s have again donated lots of daffodil bulbs. ## **FOGCP Events** Again in 2025 we held an Easter Event, with a focus on activities for children, and Christmas Wreath Making in early December. Both continue to be very popular. Although the events produce some income, we view them as providing a community service rather than profitable undertakings; we accept donations but make no charge. ## **Keeping the Park looking good** Once again this year our achievements were recognised with an "Outstanding" award by the Royal Horticultural Society's It's Your Neighbourhood scheme. As well as Gardening Achievement, the scheme assesses Community Participation and Environmental Responsibility. FOGCP Trustees’ Review 2025 Page of 2 4 **Friends of Gosforth Central Park** **Charity Number 1171862** Volunteers do a lot of litter picking, sweeping and tidying. Benches are kept clean and plant beds edged. And we have some fine gardeners to look after herbaceous beds and shrubberies. FOGCP tree planting programme continued with a substantial purchase of good sized trees for planting across the Park. However, at the end of FOGCP year, we await Council approval to plant them. With yet another dry summer, keeping plants well-watered presents a significant challenge. Changes we are making in response include selecting plants that are more drought resistant, introducing watering tubes to new tree pits, and reinstating the watering system for the planters - something of which we were previously unaware. Even so, much has to be done by watering can and hose. Caring for Wildlife and the Environment is an integral part of all our work. We have recorded 130 plus native plant species, 35 bird species and nearly 50 assorted other creatures from wood lice to frogs. Bird nest box maintenance and monitoring was again supported by one of the Northumberland Wildlife Trust’s expert staff. Of the 34 boxes, 17 have shown signs of use and 51 chicks were counted. To aid our work we have an ongoing programme of equipment maintenance and replacement. In the summer we bought a new battery driven strimmer, in another move away from petrol to electric use. Power tool training covering lawnmowers, trimmers, hedge cutters and leaf blowers was provided by NCC Rangers and delivered to ten volunteers. ## **Problems and Issues** On the downside, graffiti is a perennial problem. And there are still a minority of dog owners who don’t pick up after their dogs. This is especially common in the Wildlife Area and in the immediate vicinity of the Volunteers’ Hut. Managing the balance between park users, including dogs, and flower bed maintenance and wildlife conservation is a continuing challenge. ## **The Year Ahead** Now that we have the use of our hut once more, and now that the Council is working towards finding tenants for the park’s redundant buildings, we hope to look forward to a good year with new neighbours. Tree planting (mentioned above) is expected to be completed before the spring. FOGCP Trustees’ Review 2025 Page of 3 4 **Friends of Gosforth Central Park** **Charity Number 1171862** Because of uncertainty over the Council’s letting of the redundant Ladies Bowling Green, there has been no progress on our wish to plant a small orchard in the Quiet Area ## **Allan Gillard Chair of Trustees 3 February 2026** FOGCP Trustees’ Review 2025 Page of 4 4