PAST EVENTS
Silver Sunday 2019
Silver Sunday was held in October. A massive thank you to Sue, of Countess Marquees in Latchmere Rd., who again put up a wonderful marquee for us. It looked stunning! We celebrated the lives of older people by entertaining them with the music of their youth. Luckily (or by design?), that era features songs everyone loves, performed by a band made up of several very talented committee members and family, aptly named the 'Reccers'. Children's performances were the icing on the cake! We all had a ball...and a fistful of amazing cake to boot. Thank you to everyone who came along and made it a success and to all our volunteers who played, sang, made cakes, and especially to the brave, talented children who were totally delightful.
Preparations for the Sensory Garden July 2019
Members of FoLaR, volunteers, and our good friend and colleague, Andy from idverde, moving the compost into the planters in readiness for the plants for our sensory garden.
We are also saving and moving the slabs to support the picnic tables arriving soon.
Fun Day and Dog Show 2018
We held our first Fun Day and Dog Show in June, it was generally voted a great success and our first sense of the community around the rec coming together and having a good time. Thank you to those of you who came along and to those who worked so hard behind the scenes and on the day.
We had Sack Races, Egg and Spoon Races, a Run around the
Rec, Burpies (quite addictive for some), a Treasure Hunt and
more. It was Father's Day so we also had a Dad's Race. The Tug of War was very popular and repeated many times. Kingston Horticultural Society had a plant stall and we also had delicious homemade cakes on sale. Thank you to all donors of cakes and raffle prizes.
Over 80 dogs came to our Dog Show. And how they enjoyed it! We are very fortunate in having a band of happy, healthy dogs on the Rec...and they really know how to have a good day out and lap up all that love and attention!
Thank you so much to Brush Puppies who sponsored the event
Planting in February 2018
Our first ECOLOGICAL event on February 23rd was a huge success attracting over over 60 volunteers aged between 6 and 80, all gathering to plant a native hedge behind the wood near Tudor Drive. We were joined by a reception class from Latchmere School who helped with litter picking before the planting and a class form Kingston Academy had helped to prepare the ground in previous weeks. We planted blackthorn hawthorn, dog rose, grey willow, privet and hazel, all good native species which will support wildlife, birds, bees, insects, butterflies - maybe even hedgehogs.
Over the coming months we want to create a bug hotel, bird and bat boxes, stag beetle pits, Working with local schools, we can make this a great place for learning about nature.
Silver Sunday 2018
Silver Sunday is a national charity encouraging events that celebrate the lives of older people and these events happen throughout October. FoLaR held its own event on the Rec.
We invited local people to bring along older relatives to share their past experiences of the local area over a cuppa and cake – all ages were invited to listen to lots of fascinating stories, to bring along any any photos or artifacts they wanted to share and to meet their neighbours, . We were very fortunate to have the Old Latchmerians joined us and they shared memories of the Rec and Latchmere School during the last war.
Thanks to the generosity of Countess Marquees we had a lovely marquee, a heater and tables and chairs, all of which turned out to be essential as it poured!
It was a great event, enjoyed by all. Thank you to those who contributed to making it a great success.
Bulb Planting
We planted 500 bulbs in October 2018. Tenby daffodils, Aconites and English Bluebells, and they were planted under the trees at the South end of the Rec.
These are all native species and will, therefore, support biodiversity’. Volunteers and Councillors joined us on a beautiful day. Roll on spring when we can all enjoy them!
Stag Beetle Loggery
Working with children form The Kingston Academy, Elliot Newton from the Environment Trust, Andy Robinson from Idverde, and volunteers of FoLaR, we created a a Stage Beetle Loggery.
Stag beetles live unerground as pupae, eating dead wood for five years, before they emerge as beetles. Then they look for a mate and subsequently live for only a few months.
They are most populous in South East England, but, due to reducing habitats, they are a threatened species. It was good to show the young people (and ourselves) that even in a limited area like the Rec, we are able to create a habitat for them.