Merry Christmas 2017

And a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all our Supporters and followers.

Friends of Coed Bach Park Facebook Page

Twitter

FOCBP Committee

Changes to this Blog

All content on this site will now be provided by the FOCBP committee, and other organisations and groups which are linked to the park.

We would like to take this opportunity to thank you all for your continuing support.

Friends of Coed Bach Park Facebook Page

Twitter

Anyone For Tennis?

Starting this Sunday at the Tennis Courts by the Gwynfryn Rd entrance.

FREE coaching starting Sunday 30th July 10-12pm For more info call us on 01792 650484.

Please book via the link below.

https://clubspark.lta.org.uk/SwanseaTennisCentre/Coaching/ParksTennis

As usual you can follow our Facebook page at:-
https://en-gb.facebook.com/groups/550777668395584/


And our Twitter Feed at:- https://twitter.com/FOCBP

Green Flag 2017

The Friends of Coed Bach Park and the Our Place team are pleased to announce that we have retained the Community Green Flag award which covers the 2nd woods area for another year.
It has been a great effort by the Our Place team who constructed the (short lived but another on the way wigwam) and the FOCBP members and also the Council Park team who have all worked together to make the woods a great area to visit.

And the other news is. There is more to come, so watch this space.........


http://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales-news/14-perfect-swansea-time-out-13350032


As usual you can follow our Facebook page at:-
https://en-gb.facebook.com/groups/550777668395584/



And our Twitter Feed at:- https://twitter.com/FOCBP

During this quiet time of the year news of major Park activities becomes a little quiet.

But like all good groups we are constantly out and about in the Park keeping ourselves busy with the little things in life.

You can follow our exploits on our FaceBook page at:-

https://en-gb.facebook.com/groups/550777668395584/

Or our Twitter feed which gives you a snapshot of what is happening within the Park itself, and a glimpse of other organisations we work alongside.

https://twitter.com/FOCBP

You do not need to sign in to a Facebook or Twitter account to follow the news.

Keep Wales Tidy recently visited the Park to inspect the 2nd woods area to see if we have retained our Green Flag Award which we won in 2016.
Members of the FOCBP and Our Place team took the judge (Zoe) around the park and pointed out work that was being carried out, and what our future plans were with regards to the area.
We will let you know the result when we have it.

After the success of last years 5K Carnival Fun Run which was held in the park, another one will take place this year on Saturday 17th June.

If you want to take part please contact Andrew on 07866 622877

Due to the continued vandalism attacks on the Wigwam we will no longer be reporting the issues on our Social Media sites as we believe whoever is doing it is gaining their own kudos by knowing they are causing a public outrage.

However the Our Place team will not give up and every time the work is destroyed they will return to rebuild it.

Also worth noting that even when the vandalism occurs, the local kids come back and help us rebuild it.
Whoever you are you wont stop the younger kids or anyone else from having fun in our park!

Photo Jessica James.

If you witness any incidents in the park, do not hesitate to ring 101 if it is a non emergency, or 999 if you are in danger. Never approach anyone for your own safety. If you don't have a phone on you please still report any incidents you see at your earliest convenience, don't use our FB page to report issues it is your responsibility as you are the witness.

Other work projects are continuing around the park these include.

Tree Planting.
Planting of shrubs.
Pond clearance.
Removal of invasive plant species (In accordance to environmental plans)
Clearing car parks of stones which are damaging tennis courts.
Pathways.
Bmx track.

We also hope to have some news on Tennis sessions throughout the Summer holidays, we shall keep you posted.




Keep up to date on the latest happenings in the park between Blog Updates.
Due to increases in work commitments our FB Admins cannot respond immediately to messages, so please bear with us.
Admins will deal with any messages at their own discretion.



Facebook.
https://www.facebook.com/groups/550777668395584/

Twitter.
https://twitter.com/FOCBP?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor

Tesco Bags for life.

This vote is available in all Tesco stores throughout the Swansea Area.

Tescos and the 5p carry bags for help fund has three new projects this period voting started this week, all three projects will win funding its up to you to decide which project gets the biggest grant fund and which gets the middle value and the lowest make sure you get your blue token every time you shop and cast your vote all three are worthy candidates and all three are local the three projects for this period are hendy school, friends of coed bach and llangennech scouts hall please show support for your favourite project

Please vote for the Friends of Coed Bach Park.
Thank You.

Keep up to date on the latest happenings in the park between Blog Updates.



Facebook.
https://www.facebook.com/groups/550777668395584/

Twitter.
https://twitter.com/FOCBP?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor

February March April Update.

2017 is zipping along at an alarming rate of knots. One moment you are celebrating Christmas and New year, and the next you are looking back with a feeling that Christmas was only two weeks ago but in reality it was a lot longer than that!

Since the beginning of the New Year the Park is absolutely thriving with activity taking place on an almost daily basis. The Our Place team are super busy in the Park for four days a week and the volunteers are up there whenever possible, and of course we have a new park manager who along with his team of guys are working flat out to improve the park wherever they can.

Awards

On Friday 24^th March three members of the FOCBP Christine Thomas, Windsor Clarke and Martin Hanson were invited to attend a presentation evening in the Pontarddulais Institute to receive certificates and a cheque for £200. Also in attendance were other organisations based in Pontarddulais who also received cheques and several individual awards were given to people who had made a huge difference to the town.
We would also like to take this opportunity to Thank the Town Council for their help and support over the last few years.

Bike Path

Members of the FOCBP are backing a scheme to run a bike path from Pontarddulais and connect it to Grovesend/Gorseinon more info can be found below.

https://sustrans.onlinesurveys.ac.uk/walesrdp-stakeholder-pontarddulais

Scouts

On Saturday 18^th March members of the 4^th Lliw Valley Pontarddulais Scouts Group joined FOCBP members in planting some new trees and shrubs at the newly repaired Coed Bach entrance.

Thank You all for your help and we hope you enjoyed getting your hands muddy.

Coed Bach Entrance

After being in a bit of a sorry state Swansea City Council were able to get a team out to the Coed Bach entrance and straighten the gates up and replaced the old fence with a brand spanking new one.

The approach from Coed Bach road now looks better and you now also have a better view into the park itself. The volunteers will look at adding a splash of colour to this area, and come the warmer weather the park will look even more of of an inviting sight especially as the wildflowers patch is near this entrance, the view should be superb.

The Park management team have also taken some time out of their busy schedules to help improve the service road that runs around the football fields to the Coed Bach entrance as in parts it was getting muddy and people were getting stuck with prams and power chairs.

The effect of the clearance is that while it can be a bit rough underfoot (It has always been the same) it is less muddy and drainage is a lot better than before. Once the loose stones bed in to the ground it will be even better to walk on. And more people will be able to get to other parts of the park that previously they were unable to access.

We give a big THANK YOU to Kelvin the Park manager and his team for all the help they have given to us since they have come into the park.

Photo by Kelvin Carpenter

Our Place Team

The Our Place Team based at the Canolfan y Bont have been working full tilt in the park since the beginning of the new year.

As usual they are continually topping up the woodchip pathways around the woodland areas, and despite some bad weather turning parts of the pathways into mud the team manage to persevere and patch up the worst bits.

It is also fantastic to see people taking time out of their walks to stop and chat to the team members and they take the time to get to know the service users and make them feel welcome in the park, and some even let the guys have a play and pet of their dogs. This is community at its finest.

The big project since February has been to construct a wigwam/tipi on the pathway running between the edge of 2^nd woods and the show field.

This project has been a huge hit with the children of Pitter Patter Nursery on Dulais road who are now visiting the park on an almost daily basis. And of course children exploring the woodlands while out on walks with mums and dads and grandparents are all making the most of it, which again is fantastic to see.

The Lord Mayor of Swansea David Hopkins and Councillor Beverley Hopkins visited the park on Wednesday 15^th March to meet volunteers and Our Place team members. During his visit the Lord Mayor took the opportunity to plant some new trees and the visited the wigwam/tipi to officially open it.

And we were delighted to see some regular park users in the tipi enjoying a picnic in the afternoon sunlight. The mayor took his time and spoke to all members of the teams concerned with the park and thanked everybody for all their efforts.

The Our Place team members have also placed two wooden benches in the 2^nd woods by the Friendship tree, this should be a fantastic place to sit once the Bluebells come into full bloom.

The current project is to build a small picket fence around the Helibores/Crocus patch which is near the wooden bridge that takes you towards the show field.
And the team even found time to plant some new trees around several locations in the park.

 All Tipi/Wigwam photos Sian Thomas.

PTFC

Following the planting of crocus bulbs by FOCBP members and members of the public and Football teams a few months back.

The letters P T F C came into bloom on the bank of the upper and lower field.

PCSO's

And of course we have to give thanks to our superb team of PCSO's working in Pontarddulais. Matthew and Hayley are in the park as often as they can be keeping an eye on any potential problems, and occasionally are fed information by members of the public and FOCBP members who are keeping an eye out for any naughty activities that occasionally take place in the Park.

We have always had a great relationship with them and we give them a Huge THANK YOU! For all their efforts in these difficult financial times.

We look forward to our next chat over a cuppa.

UPDATE

A few weeks ago a group of youths decided that the park was their own personal racecourse for their motorbikes, several members of the public and volunteers were in the park during this incident and were able to contact the Police with information regarding the riders. We have been informed the youths were spoken to and next time their bikes are seen anywhere near the park they will be removed from their care.

All images SWPSwansea Twitter Account

AGM

The yearly AGM meeting will be held at Pontarddulais Cricket Club on Wednesday 26^th April 2017 and will commence at 7.30pm. We are looking for fresh volunteers, we need new ideas, we need more people to help.

Like any group you can only exist for so long and if nothing changes then one day it could all come to an end, and then what.........?

Please! Please! Come and join us we need your help to take the Park forward not only for our future, but that of your children and Grandchildren.

 As usual you can follow our FB and Twitter Links and you can email us at the address at the top of this blog or you can contact us via our social media sites.

Facebook.
https://www.facebook.com/groups/550777668395584/

Twitter.
https://twitter.com/FOCBP?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor

Until our next Blog Update Have Fun In The Park.

Change of postings.

Due to an increase in my working hours (Hooray!) I am not always able to find time to update this blog all the time.
So instead you can link to us with all the information below to see what is happening in the park.



You can now follow our newsfeed by either clicking on the tab at the top of the page or on the link below.

https://www.facebook.com/groups/550777668395584/

The FB page is constantly in use and is updated on a very regular basis.

Also follow us on Twitter (where we rant a bit more!)

https://twitter.com/FOCBP?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor

Or you can click on the tab at the top of this blog.

January Update.

Thanks to everyone for their contribution and ideas for the Coedbach Road entrance to the Park. As with all things to do with the Park because it is a public place there are always health and safety issues to contend with. However, the Parks department has stepped forward to give us assistance and thanks to the Pontarddulais Partnership who are putting up the money to pay for the materials plus a small contribution from the Friends, the old fence will be taken down and a new fence put up and work is expected to start this week. Once the fence is in place then the Friends will be planting some shrubs and flowers on the Park side as it is going to be a fence similar to what's around the tennis courts.
Thank you for all your offers to help.

Also in the next couple of weeks with the help of the lads from the Parks department and their digger drainage pipes will be going in to take the standing water away from outside the children's play area where it makes quite a big puddle. Those of us who walk the area know this only to well and redirect it to the seasonal ponds area. The Friends will be paying for the pipes and chippings and we are able to do this thanks to the kindness of Elwyn the Pet Shop's family who gave us a donation in his memory.

The Friends have also received from the Conservation Volunteers Organisation http://www.tcv.org.uk/community/i-dig-trees 100 bare root trees approximately 2.' 6" high with bamboo stakes and rabbit/strimmer guards and the Our Place Team have volunteered to plant these, thank go to this team for the great work they've been doing topping up the woodchip paths. They are destined for the area that has been cleared of Knotweed, as you can never have too many trees because they help stop soil erosion, help with air pollution as well as being great habitats for birds and insects.

The Park Team Working on the drainage.

January 2017

The FOCBP would like to give a 'HUGE THANK YOU!' to Noaked Bakers based in Pontarddulais for their very kind donation to our group over the Christmas period.
The money raised will help us keep looking after the park.


The Coed Bach Park entrance on Coed Bach Rd has seen better days and is now looking tired and neglected.
We are looking for help/ideas and funding to take on this project and if you have any ideas on what you would like to see done here please contact us on the email at the top of this blog page.