December 2010

Newsletter

Happy New Year Everyone.

The start of a New Year once again and I hope the start of new things in the garden. I would like to take this time to thank all those people who constantly support the garden in all our fundraising effors, you made 2010 a milestone year - especially the four day Heritage weekend in September.

We will be starting our New Year off with an Annual General Meeting on Thursday 27th January 2011 at 7pm in Whickham Community Centre. There will be wine and cheese with possible nibbles. Please come along and participate. We are always looking for new faces with new and bright ideas to help the Garden deliver what you would like. We are keen to encourage brain as well as brawn. An idea that has been thought about would be to resurrect Whickham Gardeners' Club. The Garden would be ideal for hands-on demonstrations such as pruning, etc.

Should we ever get our Orangery this again would be a perfect venue. Those of you who are regular visitors are probably getting sick of hearing about it, yet there is still no real progress. However we are submitting a further bid to the big lottery. Because of this bid we intend to set the Garden up as a not-for-profit community enterprise, limited by guarantee with charitable status. This is why it would be a tremendous asset to be able to attract younger people to come on board.

Please do not think that the garden is a closed shop, this is not the case. So to help us get over all this stodgy business stuff how about we let our hair down on Saturday 12th February 2011 at 7:30pm at Blaydon Rugby Club for a disco and buffet. Tickets are £6. Anyone wanting information call Dave Peacock on 07854 438 187 or e-mail sharonpeacock@btinternet.com

September 2010

  • Summer Open Weekend 9th - 12th September The garden played host to a bagpiper, and tarantulas, owls and snakes from Marvellous Monsters. Photos have been added to the Events gallery.
  • 3D Visualisations of the Proposed Cafe The garden will be applying for Lottery funding to build a cafe on-site. Additional donations are still welcome to help the garden generate enough funds. See what the finished building will look like here (subject to Planning and Building Control Approval).
August 2010
  • New pictures have been added to the Garden Gallery and the Plants Gallery (one of which is of a butterfly, not a plant, but once we have more wildlife photos they can get their own dedicated gallery).
  • The garden will be listed in the National Garden Scheme's Yellow Book, which lists thousands of gardens open for charity across the UK.
July 2010
  • The garden was at the fourth largest horticultural event in the country: Gateshead Summer Flower Show.
  • Labour Party function and David Miliband visit The Labour Party had a private function in the garden, which was attended by MP and former Foreign Secretary David Miliband. View the pictures
  • Northumbria in Bloom competition Judges from Northumbria in Bloom visited the garden, which is being judged as part of Whickham's entry. Dave is also up for the President's Award for Outstanding Voluntary Contribution by a Private Individual in Support of Northumbria in Bloom. View the pictures

2009

  • MBE Award for Dave Peacock In July 2009 Dave Peacock was awarded an MBE in the Queen's Birthday Honours List for his work and commitment involved in restoring the garden. Articles were written in the Evening Chronicle and the Journal on that Saturday, in addition to Dave being interviewed by the BBC. Dave and his wife travelled to Buckingham Palace in November 2009 to receive the award from Prince Charles in the Palace Ballroom. It was a truly wonderful experience for them both and, true to form, Dave took his faithful old cap!
  • Japanese Visit In 2009 the garden played host to ten Japanese gardeners and their representatives from the city of Komatsu, who were visiting Gateshead as part of a cultural exchange. The gardeners, who had created a Japanese garden in Saltwell Park, had a wonderful evening and were entertained in the community centre by children from Front Street School who performed traditional Geordie songs and clog dances, finishing their performance with a Japanese song
 


Behind Whickham Community Centre

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The whole garden is wheelchair-accessible

Disabled toilet on site


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Registered Charity 520910 (Whickham Community Association)

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