Hi,
FoPP is always working to maintain and improve the park. Sometimes against a background of anti-social behaviours or not being a council priority.
So, as this is Volunteers’ Week, here is a quick recap of our activities and general developments in the Park over the last couple of months.
1. We are still pressuring the council to resolve the situation of its staff using the Park’s lawns and pathways as a car park.
2. We have been in touch with Thames Water /Environment Agency re the condition of our lake especially around the outfall where our booms were replaced and removed in 24 hrs. We are still in touch and hope to get an answer to this.
3. We are in talks with Thames21, a water quality charity, for future maintenance work of our wetlands and one of the FoPP team even underwent training with the charity.
4. We are currently looking at funding streams to allow us to deal with any issues within the park that the council might not be prioritising. For example, the boating pond is in need of some TLC and we are hoping to tackle this.
5. The police have conducted the first of a regular session of weapon sweeps in the park to deter criminal behaviours.
6. To ensure there are less places to hide weapons or fly-tip, the council is looking to reduce the overgrown areas across the park. Although planning is still in the early stages, the Council Ldr said this is actively being looked at.
7. Kingdom’s environment enforcement officers are said to be operating in the park, and they will soon be joined by police officers again to deter any ‘environmental issues. Kingdom management will attend the next litter-picking ‘ Day of Action’ on 18 July.
8. Work to repair the fire damage at the Pymmes Park Visitors’ Centre is underway however within 24 hrs of this beginning, a nearby bench and the Visitors’ Centre sign were both damaged by fire.
Throw in bird feeding, litter picking, tending to flower beds and having graffiti removed, FoPP does its best to maintain and improve Pymmes Park.
Add two dozen volunteers, a group of local councillors, reps from 'Kingdom', Edmonton Green police and the leader of Enfield Council and you get a Day of Action in which Pymmes Park got some very special attention.
Highlights included FoPP getting to share with the Leader why Pymmes Park is so special, police recovering a weapon to be destroyed, Sumishta getting interviewed by MyLondon tv network (with some support from Cornelius) and many, many bags of rubbish collected.
Our two organised litter picks have proved both successful and popular. Expect more over the coming months!
Updated: Apr 20
On 24 May, FoPP participated in the GB Spring Clean, an event arranged by Keep Britain Tidy.
This was the tenth anniversary of this nationwide initiative and a great scheme for FoPP and the local community to be part of.
It was a beautiful Saturday and a great activity. A dozen volunteers and two accompanied children gave the Northern part of our park a litter picking clean up. From a dog walker to families who wanted to help out to CEO of Edmonton Community Partnership, Trevor Blackman, it was great to see people get involved.
More than seventeen bags of rubbish were picked by us and then later removed by our local council yard. The larger items including three dozen glass bottles will be removed this week.
Last year 425,000 bags were collected in 2024 as part of this nationwide scheme. So far, an extra 8000 bags have been pledged in 2025.
It was brilliant to give back to the community.