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The Friends Group was set up in June 2006, in conjunction with the Borough Council. The aim of the group is to work in partnership with WPBC to preserve the benefits of Radipole Park for the community.
The park covers an area from Coronation Crescent down to the edge of the Jubilee Retail Park and is enjoyed by people of all ages and from all walks of life. It is one of the few remaining green areas in Weymouth and luckily it is still in reasonable condition but, even here, there are areas which need refurbishment and have been vandalised. It is in the interests of all the local residents to make sure that this area continues to be a safe and quiet haven of enjoyment for local families.
Our aims include encouraging local residents to use the area more and to take an active interest in its welfare, to protect the park for future generations and improve the facilities and amenities for our mutual benefit. These improvements include more security for children at play, increasing the drainage to the football field, more car parking places, new toilet facilities, better litter control, update the tennis and basketball courts, fund raising, etc.
The committee is chaired by local resident, Philip Grout-Smith. Treasurer is David Pearce and the Secretary is Richard Makin. Other committee members include: Daphne Grout–Smith, Alex Owen–Smith, Adonica Evans and Denis Williams. There are currently over 80 members.
The Friends have helped to improve their play park by raising money to fund two brand new picnic tables. As summer approaches, the busy play park provides plenty of fun filled entertainment for many local children but, in the past, mums and dads were left standing around. The Group considered that the provision of new picnic benches was essential to encouraging more visits to the play area and now families can pack a picnic and sit in comfort as their young ones play safely in the park.
Younger members of the community braved a cold February day in Radipole Gardens to build bird boxes. The RSPB supplied the bird box kits and there are now 13 new nest boxes up in the gardens.
The Group submitted it's first application for funding from the Green Space Park it! Project and received £1,000 to host an event to encourage more people into the gardens and raise funds. The event had to have a heritage theme so the Romans once again marched into Radipole.
The fun filled event saw Roman re-enactors setting up camp in the gardens ready to do battle with young gladiators. Visitors to the Roman Fun Day had a chance to take part in interactive combat displays, splat the Roman rat, soak a gladiator as well as taking part in a search to find real Roman coins.
The Park it! project is funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund and managed by GreenSpace, the national park's charity.
The community spirit was thriving in Radipole Park and Gardens in October when 25 local residents gathered for a litter pick. Small teams of volunteers were dispatched to all corners of the park and they managed to collect many bags of rubbish.
The next litter pick will be taking place on Saturday 27 March (9.30am–11.30am) and volunteers will be invited to come along to help clean up the park area. For more details, please look out for information posters.
Thanks to a generous charitable donation a brand new disabled cradle swing has been installed in the play area at Radipole Park Drive.
The Council's Park Section bought the swing but restricted budgets did not allow for immediate installation of the safety surfacing, however, with a little help from the 'Friends', funding from a local Cox Trust was found and the swing was installed for children to enjoy this summer.
A Picnic in the Park was held back in 2006, which successfully launched the 'Friends' Group.
Attendance by local residents was far beyond expectations and this created a real family outing atmosphere and community spirit right in the middle of these wonderful gardens. The Friends were delighted at the number of new members recruited to the cause and the level of funds raised.
The centre piece of the afternoon was the official opening of the new Alexander Bridge, which took place at the suggestion of the Friends group. Councillors and senior officials from the County and Borough Councils attended and all agreed that the afternoon was a good example of how well the residents and authorities can benefit the local community be working together in harmony.
If you'd like to join the group, please contact Tel. 01305 838297. Membership costs are either £1.00 per household or £5.00 per household for a lifetime membership.
