Welcome
Thanks everyone for coming
Apologies
From all the Walkers who couldn’t make it today
Actions from last meeting
- We’ve had more pallets delivered – thanks to Jill, Pete C and Duerrs
- We have a fantastic new water collection system – thanks guys
- The wooden sheds are now ready for winter
- We still need to collect the lean to greenhouse we were offered, and Andy has offered his old shed too to replace the one in the Forest School area
- Andy still needs to arrange a date with Glenn from Offshoots to help with ongoing maintenance on the yurt
- Blackpool Pleasure Beach – is now closed on weekdays until march/April 2016. We’ll rearrange a visit to Grow Blackpool and the Pleasure Beach then.
- Football match vs Lostock – Pete and Becky to talk to Tracy at Lostock to arrange. There might be some funding from the FA if we played at Moss Farm that we could access for kit – Pete to look into. It’s important that anyone who wants to play in the Grozone Team gets a chance to play.
- Parking – agreed that we need a more organised system in place – we’ll mark out bays with bricks (BJ style) and look at moving some of the bunds to create more spaces
- The bike shed is now too small for the number of cyclists we have visiting. When we have finished the kitchen roof and toilet ramp, we’ll build a new bike shelter against the wall at the cemetery end of the site, and the current bike shelter will become a permanent work shed.
- Lots of paths have been resurfaced – thanks due especially to BJ for leading on this, and for all the work on the new paths around the growing beds.
- New fruit cages have been built
- Beds have been revitalised with manure
- The new allotment area has been really productive, not least with our huge pumpkins
- We now have floodlights and a fantastic new water catchment system – thanks especially to Mervyn for leading on these and sourcing the various hard to find fixings we needed.
- We have lots of new compost and leaf mould bins, and the various wood stores have all been replenished ready for Winter
- Pete D has harvested lots of delicious honey from our many bee hives
- Throughout all this time, Percy has been keeping us all supplied with hot water for brews – thanks Percy
- Finish off the ramp to the compost toilet
- Build a roof for our new kitchen
- Tree pruning – Pete will run a training session for staff and volunteers
- Build some more raised beds and a tree sat
- Improve drainage around the new kitchen
- Si has been keeping everyone informed about our efforts through our Facebook page. Thanks for all the wonderful stories and pics Si
- CCG horticultural therapy project – current funding has now ended but we hope to secure further funding next year to continue the great work. Si will update the website page to reflect this. Anyone with an enquiry should ring Andy please on 01606 723168.
- Pupils from Knutsford Academy now visit every Thursday and Andy is talking to The Fermain Academy in Macclesfield about a similar project.
- Winnington Youth Centre - Pete and Andy met staff recently to discuss a possible Grozone outreach project where we would work with Centre users to develop their grounds. We’re awaiting their response to a costed proposal.
We’re still waiting to hear about the possible lease, so will now source the timber we need from elsewhere.
Providing evidence to funders
- Louise Barry will be here next Tuesday to start work on an external evaluation of what we do. She would love to be able to speak to some volunteers in more detail about your experiences at Grozone – thanks to Si, BJ, Becky and Jonathan (so far) for offering your thoughts.
- Si will liaise with Louise to capture the best bits from Facebook
- Raised pond – we agreed that we’ll put some goldfish in it, once we’ve made a cover to stop them getting eaten. Mary has planted the edges with creeping thyme so please do not weed it!
- Tarpaulins – we’ve left the tarps up (that were erected for our wellbeing day). The fastenings will need strengthening before it gets too windy.
- Grozone will be closed from 24th December to 3rd January (inclusive), reopening on Monday 4th
Wednesday 6th January 3.00pm