FoFG Newsletter - Introduction of Love Our Green Sundays, or LOGS!
Welcome to the new-look Fortune Green newsletter!There’ll be three newsletters each year to keep you up to speed with what’s going on, and we’ll also send you a Flash reminder prior to the main events so that you don’t miss out on anything exciting. But we’ll keep those reminders to a minimum so as not to be annoying, promise! |
Looking back…Autumn 2013 saw the fabulous Birds of Brey display, when the Green was host to hawks and owls of all shapes and sizes (see photo). There were lots of new arrivals: two wooden sculptures in the children’s landscaped area; three new noticeboards giving information about the history of the Green and the plants you can find here; the excellent FoFG website went live; there's a monthly blog, Scene on the Green; our first Artist in Residence, Ted Booth, took up his mantel and has written several Green-related poems; and FoFG now has its own Twitter account too. There was also one sad departure: one of the Whitebeam trees fell victim to the fierce storm of 30th October. The stump has now been removed and Camden will be filling the space with new shrubs. |  Looking forward…Camden will be planting more shrubs and perennial plants, making the flowerbeds beside Alfred Court more full and lush. Let’s hope for some sunshine (and rain!) to help them settle in! At the same time, the Green will be oversown, which is the technical term for reseeding the grass, to fill in bare patches and make it thicker, greener and more robust for the summer and beyond. And there's a host of events for FoFG members to be part of too. See below... |
Spring events
Come along to one of our ‘Love Our Green Sundays’, (or LOGS as we now fondly call them!). These are Action Days when you can get involved in planting, weeding, pruning and generally keeping the Green looking at its best. There are three LOGS coming up:
Sunday 23 February 2-4pm Big New Year Cut Down
Sunday 23 March 2-4pm Perennial Planting, Weeding & Mulching
Sunday 27 April 2-4pm Planting, Weeding & Deadheading Daffodils
Sunday 23 March 2-4pm Perennial Planting, Weeding & Mulching
Sunday 27 April 2-4pm Planting, Weeding & Deadheading Daffodils
Saturday 3 May Dawn Chorus Walk (exact time to be confirmed, but around 4.30am)
See Fortune Green in a completely different light, literally! The walk is led by one of Camden’s ornithological experts, who’ll help you to recognise common birdcalls and spot resident birds waking up. You might even encounter a rare wood warbler, which made a surprise appearance on last year’s walk. The walk is free, but numbers are limited, so please reserve your place at fortunegreen@gmail.com
Saturday 31 May Big Lunch Film and Picnic (exact time to be confirmed)
Following the success of the Back to the Future and The Blues Brothers showings last summer, FoFG are hosting another film night. It's the National Big Lunch on 1 June, so FoFG thought it would be good to combine a film and 'lunch' in one event this year (though it'll be dinner rather than lunch, of course)! So on the evening of Saturday 31 May, bring a blanket and a picnic, and enjoy the show! We’ll email you closer to the time with details of how you can vote for the film you'd most like to see.
You can find a schedule of all the year’s events at www.fortunegreen.org.uk/future-events.html
See Fortune Green in a completely different light, literally! The walk is led by one of Camden’s ornithological experts, who’ll help you to recognise common birdcalls and spot resident birds waking up. You might even encounter a rare wood warbler, which made a surprise appearance on last year’s walk. The walk is free, but numbers are limited, so please reserve your place at fortunegreen@gmail.com
Saturday 31 May Big Lunch Film and Picnic (exact time to be confirmed)
Following the success of the Back to the Future and The Blues Brothers showings last summer, FoFG are hosting another film night. It's the National Big Lunch on 1 June, so FoFG thought it would be good to combine a film and 'lunch' in one event this year (though it'll be dinner rather than lunch, of course)! So on the evening of Saturday 31 May, bring a blanket and a picnic, and enjoy the show! We’ll email you closer to the time with details of how you can vote for the film you'd most like to see.
You can find a schedule of all the year’s events at www.fortunegreen.org.uk/future-events.html
Join the Green Team!We at FoFG would like to be able to plan the gardening work on the Green over the year, and one thing that would help a lot is if we know that there is a core of keenies who will pretty much always come and help out. So if you'd like to help keep the Green looking tip-top, why not join the official Green Team? It's a great way to meet your neighbours, have fun in the fresh air and learn about plants and planting. You can really make a difference and feel proud about it! |  |
What’s involved?
There are seven ‘Love Our Green Sundays’ action days spread across the year, when you can get involved planting, weeding, pruning and generally tidying up. See here for a full list of dates and times. It would be fabulous if you can come to all of them, but if you have to miss a couple, that's not a problem. And there are always lots of different activities to help with on the day, so bring the whole family - there's something for everyone.
If you'd like to be part of the Great Team, please email fortunegreen@gmail.com or just come along to the next LOGS and try it out.
If you'd like to be part of the Great Team, please email fortunegreen@gmail.com or just come along to the next LOGS and try it out.
 | Join the FoFG CommitteeGardening not your thing? Well, perhaps you’d like to join the FoFG Committee instead. We’re looking for one person to take on the combined role of Treasurer and Book-keeper, or two people, each of whom would take on one of the roles. The Treasurer would be responsible for overseeing FoFG finances, while the Book-keeper would be someone with book-keeping experience who could |
keep the financial records in good order (reconciling our expenditure and preparing our income, expenditure and balance sheet for independent examination each year). If either role sounds interesting, please email fortunegreen@gmail.com for more details.
The photo above shows two Committee members, Janet Pedder and Gerald Oppenheim, enjoying a the last film night with friend Judith Found (centre).
The photo above shows two Committee members, Janet Pedder and Gerald Oppenheim, enjoying a the last film night with friend Judith Found (centre).
And finally... the FoFG Committee Chair, Mark Stonebanks, is going off on a 6-month sabbatical in March. We all wish him well and look forward to seeing him again later in the year. Janet Pedder will be taking over as Chair in Mark's absence.
Ever thought what pigeons see when they fly over the Green? Have a look!
www.flickr.com/photos/tetramesh/12185934696/in/photostream/
Ever thought what pigeons see when they fly over the Green? Have a look!
www.flickr.com/photos/tetramesh/12185934696/in/photostream/
Beyond the Green – Stop Press
The West Hampstead Neighbourhood Development Forum (NDF) is consulting on a local plan to help guide development in the area. The plan includes many things, one of which is green space. There will be a referendum on it in the Autumn, so it's important that you have your say. If you want to have your say, you have until the end of February to do so. There is a copy of the plan in the Library, or you can download it and comment via www.ndpwesthampstead.org.uk
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