Author: Pax Barnard

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FoPP Halloween Parade

A very wet and windy FoPP Halloween was attended by some brave children this year. Despite the weather, those who came along had a lovely time and were entertained by Holly and Georgia who teach at Stagecoach Haywards Heath. There were lots of games and competitions and the kids were taught some great dance routines to impress their friends with! The parade, lit with pumpkin lights was a delightful spectacle.

FoPP would like to thank the Chalet Cafe for remaining open during the event and BHCC for keeping the toilets open for everyone.

With the arrival of lightning, we had a rush to clear the area but we hope that our young residents had a happy, albeit a soaking wet, Halloween! 

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FoPP Rose Garden Community Book Swap Box

The FoPP opened their Rose Garden Community Book Swap Box this week. The aim of the box is to encourage residents to take a book and either return it or replace it with another book. We have a number of LGBTQIA+ books and would like to thank and recommend  Kemptown Bookshop for their help and for giving us a good deal on some lovely new books. If anyone has a large group of books to donate please contact us at: info@friendsofprestonpark.org

It is hoped that we will also have a children’s book swap in place soon. So please come along and get reading!

(Please note that the box has been temporarily removed as we had a problem with the door. It will be back in place shortly.)

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Preston Park Bat Walk

Residents joined Friends of Preston Park recently in Preston Park for a bat walk experience. Nick Lane and Ranger Marie Ingledew were on hand to explain the habits of a variety of native and non-native bats whilst we used bat sound detectors to try and identify those living within the park grounds. Unfortunately, the weather was rather damp and many of our bat friends decided to hide away for the evening. That said, we still enjoyed an evening of bat related poetry, funny stories, guessing games, and the flit of a few less rain hating Pipistrelles. Well done, to the younger members who came along to ask some more interesting questions. We hope that the weather will be kinder next year!

Our next mini event will be the opening of our new community book swap on Sunday, 22 October, 12.00 – 14.00, in the Rose Garden. Please come along and see what we have to offer.

Our next main event is Halloween, on Saturday, 28 October, 18.00 – 19.30. Please sign up for this on Eventbrite, via our website.

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The Rose Garden Community Book Exchange, Sunday 22 October 12-2pm


The Friends of Preston Park will officially open their community book swap box on 22 October, 12.00-14.00, in the Rose Garden. Anyone who is interested, is invited to come along for a slice of cake and to see what books we have available for swapping.

We would like to thank Pride for donating towards this project, that enabled us to purchase some excellent LGBTQIA+ books for lending. It is hoped that we will also have a children’s book swap up and running shortly, as well.

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FoPP AGM with special guest, Dr Dan Danahar

The Friends of Preston Park (FoPP) will be holding their next AGM on Saturday, 11 November, 14.00 – 16.00. Residents and members are invited to join us at St. Peter’s cricket club, near the velodrome in Preston Park. Following on from business we have invited local biodiversity educationalist, Dr Dan Danahar to give us a presentation on butterfly conservation. Dan has led a number of local initiatives within the city of Brighton & Hove, including persuading the public to count butterflies, which in turn inspired the national charity Butterfly Conservation to develop the Big Butterfly Count.

He has also introduced Butterfly Havens as a habitat restoration approach for chalk grassland butterflies, giving the public access to nature on their doorsteps. Dan is Executive Trustee of the charitable company Big Nature – www.bignature.co.uk, which aims to revitalise the relationship between people and their local wildlife by creating natural habitats within the UNESCO designated Brighton & Lewes Downs Biosphere region (The Living Coast). So if you would like to learn more, please come along and meet Dan.

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Ranger Marie Ingledew

This week, Ranger Marie Ingledew came to meet with volunteer gardeners in the Rose Garden. Marie is a fairly new ranger to our area and is based in Preston Park as well as other green areas around Brighton & Hove. She will be assisting Ranger Neil Doyle and his team of volunteers to clear and mend the Rose Garden pond in October (weather permitting). We welcome this work as the pond has been in need of some tender care. It should be up and running soon and will be all bedded in again in time for spring.

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Painting in the park event

This week, the FoPP held its final Painting-in-the Park event for the year. Luckily, the sun shone brightly and attendees were able to concentrate on their subjects and not bother about rain. We had some excellent art works of the park and anyone interested will be able to view the work on the Chalet Cafe wall. We thank everyone who came and encourage anyone who would like to do this to join us once again next year. Just keep any eye on events on our website in spring. 

Our next event will be the bat walk with Nick Lane (a change from Emma Keane who can no longer make that date) on Thursday, 28 September. Please go to Eventbrite to book tickets. Please note that whilst the event is wheelchair accessible there may be areas that have tree roots, etc.. We will ask for donations at the end.

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Painting in the Park

A reminder that Painting in the Park will be taking place on Sunday 3rd September at 10am at the Chalet Cafe. Book your place on Eventbrite here.

You are invited to come along with your medium of choice and to set up and make a piece of art in three hours.

Participants meet back at the FoPP gazebo at 13.00 to display their work and discuss the final outcomes over a piece of cake. Everyone aged 16 and over is welcome. Donations will be requested at the end of the event.