It is great to see so many of you now face to face as well as online still.
We have had some very successful; Coffee Mornings so far and we now invite you to join us for an evening social at The Roundhouse on Monday 20th June, at 6.00pm. This is in partnership with the National Trust and we look forward to seeing you there.
The full programme of BOSF Socials are:
June - BOSF Tea Time, Wednesday 8th June at 4pm
Join Zoom Meeting - https://us02web.zoom.us/j/86361839643
Evening Social at National Trust's The Roundhouse,1 Sheepcote St, B16 8AE
Monday 20th June from 6pm to 8pm
July - BOSF Evening Social on Thursday 7th July at 4.30pm
Hosted by the Sailing Club at Edgbaston Reservoir
There will be stand-up paddle boarding available, kit provided, and an instructor in charge of fun. A led walk around the Reservoir looking at Flora & Fauna, with tea and coffee and cake.
The club’s cash bar will be open upon our return for an evening drink overlooking the panorama of the reservoir. The woods over the Hagley Road corridor and the city skyline. Tolkien’s Two Towers are clearly in view.
September - BOSF Coffee Morning on Wednesday 14th September at 11am
Hosted by the Holders Woods Conservation group
October - BOSF Conference at The Exchange, Centenary Squary
In partnership with the University of Birmingham
Saturday 8th October
November - BOSF Coffee Morning
To be confirmed
December - BOSF Christmas Lecture at The Exchange, Centenary Square
In partnership with the University of Birmingham
Wednesday 7th December, evening
We look forward to seeing you in June!
BOSF Team
BOSF Seed Corn Fund
To all BOSF Member Groups.
We hope you all know about our Seed Corn Fund and we would like to remind you that the free help and support is still there for you to use!
Just to remind you, a seed corn fund is when a little bit of money is invested to generate more money.
BOSF, with generous support from Birmingham City Council, want to help out Friends Groups by investing a little bit of money to generate more money for our parks and open spaces volunteers.
We can therefore offer you FREE help to work with Get Grants to help bring in the funding you need.
Last year, with the help of Get Grants, we turned £10K in to over £100K.
This year we have already helped groups to bring in the total of £39,797, which has gone towards:
new picnic benches
playground equipment
new tools
and a variety of park activities!
So, if you are a BOSF Member and your group needs to bring in funding, we can help out.
It is very easy, so start by clicking here and give us some informaiton about your group and what you need funding for
Then Katie at Get Grants will be in touch to give you all the assist you need!
I you have any questions or need help, then please let us know by contacting Sarah at info@bosf.org.uk
BOSF Team
RSPB Family Survey
The RSPB is asking for your help to shape their community activities and future projects for families!
Please can you find some time to complete their RSPB Love Nature survey to share your experiences, feelings and opinions relating to visiting parks and nature reserves with your family.
If you want to download the flier, then pleaseclick here.
Posters Designed by Friends of Muntz Park
To help out Friends Groups, two posters have been design by Bethany Randle, the daughter of Joanna Randle from the Friends of Muntz Park and Selly Park Rec.
She is very happy for Friends Groups to print them out and use them on your notice boards.
The first is about keeping your park tidy -click here
The second is about enjoying local widlife - click here
Friday, 20th May. Can you help us water the fruit trees? 8.00am
(Yes, you read that right!)
Rob Tilling of the Fruit and Nut Village in Stirchley has grafted some of the original apple and pear trees from Chamberlain's time. Some of the trees have been recently planted in the rose bed area near Moor Green Lane and will form a small orchard in time. The project involves different volunteer groups from the Estate watering the trees once per week over the summer to help them get established. Our week for Highbury Park Friends is this week so we plan to water at 8.00am on Friday morning. If you would like to come and help for half an hour or an hour max then please email to let us know. If you can bring your own watering can then even better! If you can't make this time but would like to help next month then please contact us.
Other events happening soon:
Sunday June 12th. 10.30am. Jake Williams, Senior Reserves Officer, Birmingham and Black Country Wildlife Trust will lead a walk around our hay meadow.
We hope to spot our orchids and learn about the variety of flowers and how they help pollinators. Meet in the car park.
Sunday, July 10th. Andy Bishop, Kings Heath Local History Group will lead a history walk exploring the Henburys area of the park.
Meet in the car park 10.30am.
Event at Burbury Park 22nd May
Fields in Trust Green Space Index
This year Fields in Trust’s annual Green Space Index analysis of the provision and distribution of parks and green spaces looks at the Government's flagship Levelling-Up agenda.
They have identified that 40% of areas with the lowest GSI Score fall into Government's priority Levelling-Up locations.
The Green Space Index is Fields in Trust's annual barometer of publicly accessible park and green space provision in Great Britain. The report was first produced in 2019, and this year is the Index's fourth edition.
Parks and Green Spaces Article by the University of Exeter
Parks and green spaces provide around £25.6 billion of ‘welfare value’ to the health and wellbeing of adults in England and Wales each year,
The study, a world first in its ambitious scope and the detail of its analysis, took into account factors such as ease of access by car or on foot, the quality and diversity of the environment in each green space and the socioeconomic characteristics or residents. It also revealed:
The ‘Top 10’ most valuable recreation sites across England and Wales, with Hyde Park in London, Sutton Park in Birmingham and Blaise Castle in Bristol in the top 3.
Small parks deliver the highest recreation value on a ‘pound for pound’ basis (ie value per hectare). Large country parks and beaches are generally the most valuable green spaces.
People from ethnic minority backgrounds and in less affluent socioeconomic groups are less likely to engage in outdoor recreation, even when given the same recreation opportunities.
Dog owners are 4 times more likely to use recreation spaces but having children does not significantly impact recreation habits.
Locations of high deprivation tend to be better served by options for publicly accessible recreation than areas of low deprivation, which tend to have more gardens or other privately accessible green space.
Wetter winters, drier summers and higher temperatures as a result of climate change are expected to increase demand for recreation by 4%.
