Spotlight on Friends of Tividale Park
1. Tell us what you do.
Established in 2015, the Friends of Tividale Park are a resident’s community group who work to improve the park in various ways, including fundraising for new equipment, volunteering, and supporting events. Our website www.friendsoftividaelpark.org.uk states our monthly meeting dates and location. Tividale Park celebrates the 90th anniversary of its opening during this year.
2. What is your proudest achievement?
To date, we have held we have three held annual Family Fun Day events in the park, working with Sandwell Council and K9 Search UK. We are bringing back an historic tradition of park community events lost over recent years.
Friends of Tividale Park have helped with a park clear ups and held a Christmas event. The event featured a blow-up grotto and a visit from Santa. The event coincided with unseasonably strong winds ever meaning the grotto had to be held down at times. Lots of fun was had regardless of the gales!
The group were award postcode lottery funding which was spent on nature/environment projects such as bird boxes, bat boxes, hedgehog homes, bug boxes, and planting hedge saplings. We also donated money to a neighbouring group to buy Beehives. We have our biggest plans and projects lined up for fruition in 2018.
3. What is your experience of support received from SCVO
This will be the first time the group has worked with SCVO, although read the bulletin for example we have now established links with Art Yard thanks to an advert regarding one of their events.
4. What is the most valuable lesson you have learnt about working with people in Sandwell?
The Lesson we have learnt is how many volunteers and charities there are out there. Sandwell people are hardworking and when they commit to a project see it through to the end.
5 . What are your plans and some of the challenges you face?
We are commissioning a sun sundial as a centre piece for the park, as well as bespoke benches, wild meadow planting, and our Black Country Festival Event with a Tividale’s Got Talent theme. Local schools and the general public will be able to audience to appear on our stage at our biggest event to date; organisation is well underway.
Challenges including having the right number of volunteers and do-ers types to make our grow and provide the insight or experience that a smaller group may not readily have. It is also establishing links with other groups to learn from experience.
6. How can SCVO help to support your organisation in the future?
Help us to raise our profile in the community, offer advice or input into group projects such as review lottery applications. Help us establish links with other local groups with mutual benefits.
For more information on the Friends of Tividale Park or to become a volunteer please email our Secretary at secretary@friendsoftividalepark.org.uk