Achievements
Friends of St.James' Park
Updated: 17th December 2011
- Launched Friends of St.James' Park as a voluntary organisation in 2006,
with a written constitution
and an elected management committee. - Established a membership base of over 450 people - the largest group of its type in Southampton.
- Established a regular Newsletter to all members to keep them in touch with Park news and events.
- Launched the FoSJP website (October 2006).
- Launched the FoSJP Facebook page (November 2010).
- Established ParkLife Community Interest Company (ParkLife CIC) in November 2010, to run the ParkLife Community Café on behalf of FoSJP and the community after completion of the restoration and development works in the Park.
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Visit our How to Contact Us page for information on becoming a member of FoSJP. |
Community Involvement
Updated: 17th December 2011
- Organised a series of public events in the Park:
- A "Reminiscence Day" event to encourage people to share their memories of the Park and its surroundings (May 2006).
- Wildflower and bulb planting events to improve flora within the Park (October 2006, May & October 2008).
- Clean-up mornings to prepare the Park for winter (November 2006).
- An "Art in the Park" event to encourage creativity (March 2007).
- A "Park100" event to celebrate 100 years since the Park was purchased for public use (July 2007).
- BBC Breathing Places-related events to inform and enthuse people about local wildlife (March & October 2008).
- Family fun and sports events, including a celebration of FoSJP's first birthday (May 2007, July 2008, May 2009, April 2010).
- Participation in the nationwide "Big Lunch" event to bring people in the local community together (July 2009).
- An environmental awareness event organised by younger FoSJP members (October 2009).
- An Easter SpEGGtacular! event to celebrate Easter (April 2010).
- A Start in the Park! event to mark the start of restoration and improvement works in the Park (July 2010).
- A Play in the Park! event to celebrate the re‑opening of the Park after completion of the restoration and improvement works (July 2011).
- A tour of the Park as part of the Southampton Over 50's Festival (August 2011).
- Hosting the Salisbury Big Band as part of the Southampton Over 50's Festival (August 2011).
- An Autumn Family Fun event (October 2011).
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Visit our Events page for full details of these and other events. |
Interaction with other organisations
Updated: 5th April 2010
- Established a good working relationship with Southampton City Council.
- Become a member of Southampton Voluntary Services.
- Together with SureStart, supported Jamie's Playtime summer activities for pre-school children in the Park.
- Set up a FoSJP History Stall at the Bitterne Local History Society's History Fair (March 2009).
- Organised teaching events in the Park for children from local schools.
- Supported a student project within the University of Southampton's History department (February to May 2010).
- Advised several new friends' groups setting up in Southampton.
Funding
Updated: 2nd February 2012
- Won a grant from BBC Breathing Places to put towards encouraging native flora and fauna in the Park (2007).
- Submitted a pre-application to the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF), and used the HLF-provided funds provided to employ Parklife to put together a bid for full HLF funding (May 2008).
- Won backing from the Parks for People scheme backed by the Heritage Lottery Fund, with an initial award of £64,500 to further develop plans for an improvement scheme totalling £1.5 million (October 2008).
- Won a grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund of £1.1 million, plus a ring-fenced £400,000 from Southampton City Council, making a total of £1.5 million to make significant improvements to the Park and its facilities (October 2009).
- Won a grant of £1000 from Sport Relief to buy sporting equipment for borrowing from the ParkLife Community Café after completion of the restoration and improvement works in the Park (May 2010).
- Container port operator DP World Southampton very kindly donated £20,000 to help fit out a commercial catering kitchen for the ParkLife Community Café (July 2010); this was augmented by £2500 from the Development Trusts Association (now part of Locality).
- Won a grant of £39,000 over 3 years from Lankelly Chase to pay for a 3‑year project to help local residents participate in a variety of activities in the Park.
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Visit our Future Developments page to find out more about our plans for developing the Park. |
Improvements to St.James' Park
Updated: 17th December 2011
- Carried out a structural survey of the toilet block.
- Installed secure access and basic amenities in the ARP block, and cleaned and decorated parts of it.
- Opened and operated the Kiosk for business (August 2006 to September 2010).
- Extended opening times for the public toilet.
- Organised Litter Picking mornings to keep the Park clean and tidy.
- Installed birdboxes and batboxes and established a Local Floral Nature Reserve to encourage wildlife within the Park (2009).
- Funded and installed educational signage with information about wildlife in the Park (July 2009).
- Working closely with Southampton City Council, gained a Heritage Lottery Fund grant to fund restoration and improvement works to provide a café, community room, new entrances, botanical and scenic walks, new landscaping, and new play facilities for children and adults (July 2010 to July 2011).
History
Updated: 17th December 2011
- Hosted historically-themed walks, talks, and historical dramatic performances in and around the Park.
- Organised a History Exhibition in Shirley Parish Hall (May 2009).
- Started the Shirley Heritage Project, with HLF funding, to record oral histories of people’s memories of the local area.
- St.James' Park history featured in double-page article in the Daily Echo (17th October 2009 - see our Press page).
- Extended the History Pages on our website to include Your Stories (2009).
- Organised a series of public history talks as part of the Shirley Heritage Project (October 2009 to March 2010)..
- Organised Group Tours to Southampton City Council Archives and Local Studies' Library (December 2009 & January 2010).
- Contributed to Southampton City Council Conservation Team's "St.James' Road Conservation Area" document (2009).
- Established the FoSJP History Research group for local people interested in local history.
- Produced a series of FoSJP "Shirley Heritage Project Newsletters" (March 2010, October 2010, April 2011).
- Taken the FoSJP History Display to local schools (June 2010), a local residents street party (July 2010), the Southampton History Fair (April 2011), and the Foyes Corner Festival (May 2011).
- Organised a second and a third series of public history talks as part of the Shirley Heritage Project (October 2010 to March 2011, October 2011 to December 2011).
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Visit our History pages to find out more about the history of St.James' Park and our history-related activities. |
Awards
Updated: 16th December 2010
- Won the Southampton Green Open Spaces Award 2006 (September 2006).
- Won the Outstanding Park Event 2007 award for Park100 (October 2007).
- Received a Certificate of Congratulation from the Mayor of Southampton, in recognition of achieving the Heritage Lottery Fund grant (November 2009).
- Website shortlisted in two categories for 7th Hantsweb Awards (January 2010).
- Took second place at Southampton City Council's Green Spaces event (November 2010).
- Won first prize in the Hampshire and Isle of Wight section of the South East Community Empowerment Awards 2010 (November 2010).
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Visit our Awards page for more details and pictures of these awards. |
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