Report on first Park Friends gathering

Park Friends gathered at St Swithun's Prep School to discuss progress in the Park and future plans. Photo: Harry Mycock.

Just over a year since it was established, on Wednesday, 22 May The Friends of St Giles Hill Park held its first meeting to share its achievements over the last 12 months and to engage the local community in its plans for the future.

Almost sixty attendees came along to the session at St Swithun’s School, including current and recent Councillors on the night of the General Election being called, and representatives from across the city such as The Hampshire Gardens Trust and nature and conservation bodies including Butterfly Conservation and Bar End Wild Ways.

At the meeting the Chairman, Harry Mycock reported that on a practical level and in line with Winchester City Council’s 5 year Management Plan, the Friends have been able to establish Working Parties which have so far completed over 300 hours of work on the landscape such as reducing invasive vegetation, opening up views and planting and nurturing new trees with biodiversity in mind.  A hundred hours of litter picking has also been undertaken. The support from Councillors and grants from Winchester City Council and Hampshire County Council were acknowledged as instrumental in equipping the Working Parties.

Mike Biden, Secretary of The Friends made presentations on the current state and potential of the Park and announced a new initiative to focus on engaging with young people as users of the Park.  It was announced that Councillor Nathan Eve was to come on board to help spearhead this initiative and engage with young people and organisations such as Street Reach, the Scouts and schools that link with young people.

The need for a long term Master Plan for St Giles Hill Park, similar to those for other parts of the city, was debated and deemed an important next step as the Park moves towards its 150th anniversary in 2028.  Breakout areas at the Gathering also enabled discussions about the next steps in improving the Park covering ideas for trails, seating and enhancing walks and views. 

The need for fundraising activity to support the work of the Friends was discussed and several generous donations were made and pledged by attendees on the night.  This will help the Friends to achieve their wider aspirations for the improvements in the Park alongside more specific and large scale fund raising in the future  within a framework of the Park Plan with Winchester City Council, who currently are focused on organising the regular maintenance and working on key areas of safety concern such as slope stabilisation and tree work to address matters such as ash dieback.

Dr Mycock summarised the meeting before further breakout discussions, highlighting the continued support required to achieve these goals, in particular the need for Working Parties and the raising of funds for operations alongside the Friends long term aspirations for nurturing a Park to be treasured and enjoyed by all ages as well as delivering a green space with increasing biodiversity to support the nature on our doorsteps.