Latest news
Free AED/CPR training course available
The Friends of Queen’s Park has arranged for AED and CPR (Automated External Defibrillator and Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation) training to take place on Saturday, 29th March in the clubhouse of the Queen’s Park Tennis Club.
The training will be delivered by the Sussex Heart Charity and take place between 1 and 3 pm. The course is free and places will be allocated on a strict first-come-first-served basis.
To apply for a place on the course should email [email protected].
CAROLS IN THE PARK 2024
This year’s Carols in the Park will take place on Friday, 6th December outside the Royal Spa Nursery with admission from 6pm onwards.
Your help needed
Once again the popular event will feature the Salvation Army brass band and the Vox Community Choir. However popular Carols in the Park is, nothing can happen without volunteer support to help make it happen. So here are the tasks for which the Friends of Queen’s Park is seeking support:
Before the event
– Putting up posters
– Helping to collect equipment by car
– Helping transport equipment to Royal Spa
– Help setting up tables and putting up lights, rigging up speakers
– Serving mulled wine
– Meeting and greeting members of the community as they arrive
– Clearing up the site at the end of the event
SECOND PHASE PLAYGROUND REDEVELOPMENT: It is almost here!
The Friends of Queen’s Park is pleased to announce that the Council has awarded the contract for the second phase redevelopment of the play area and the new equipment could be in place before Christmas.
An exhibition at the Jubilee Library on Saturday, 9th November between 10am and 4pm will allow the local community to see how the appointed contractors, Kompan, have interpreted the brief developed by the Council following the consultation supported by the Friends of Queen’s Park.
Officers and representatives of the contractors will be on hand to answer questions at the design reveal, which also features the delivery of other designs for Hove Park and Wild Park.
The next phase will start mid-November with a possible completion date ahead of Christmas.
The new features will include new equipment for the toddlers area; a sand pit element; a pendulum swing; a new climbing stack and the much anticipated zip wire.
It is anticipated that the next phase, which will now include elements catering for toddlers, teenagers and young adults, will take four weeks to install and will require some parts of the play area to be temporarily closed while the installation is being progressed.
Date for butterfly walk
Sussex Wildlife Trust’s Huw Morgan will be giving a guided butterfly walk on Wednesday, 5th June.
The walk will start at 11 am and end at noon. Those signed up to the walk are asked to meet in front of the Queen’s Park Tennis Club house.
Those joining the guided walk are asked to make a donation to Sussex Wildlife Trust.
The places on the walk are being all allocated strictly on a first-come-first served basis. Register HERE.
History walk – extra date announced
As a result of over demand for places, local historian Peter Crowhurst (pictured) has agreed to give a second history walk on Sunday, 30th June starting at 11 am starting at the Park Street park entrance and concluding at 12.15 at the cafe.
The walk covers the development of Queen’s Park and those adjacent streets, which were once part of the park’s estate, from the time it was open farmland in Hilly Laine to when the park was landscaped for use as a public park becoming, perhaps, the most ornamental park in Brighton at the time.
The talk will look at the various owners, including a Hong Kong cattle rancher and a mad Cardinal, and their contribution to this development and the buildings they constructed. The German Spa, an archery ground, a roller skating rink, Attree’s villa and the Pepperpot were all part of the story that will be told.
Numbers will be restricted and allocated on a first-come-first-served basis. Anyone interest in learning about the history of Queen’s Park should click HERE.
Bark in the Park 2024 date
The date for Bark in the Park, the Friends of Queen’s Park’s ever-popular community dog show has been fixed for 2024. The date agreed with heading sponsor Coastway Vets, is Saturday, 1st June.
As ever, there will be opportunities for the sponsorship of each of the classes, as well as further opportunities for traders to join in the fun. To find out what is available click HERE.
Stalwart volunteer is honoured
For more than 20 years Chris Lowe has been a Friends of Queen’s Park stalwart. Sadly, ill health forced him to step back as an active volunteer and serving on our committee.
His knowledge of local flora and fauna is encyclopaedic, with a special passion for the park’s Swift population.
Chris’ exploits as volunteer pin-up boy attracted wide coverage in the local media when he posed for a photograph taken by former FoQP committee member Conrad Brunner. It showed Chris sitting at a table in the middle of the pond and was used to illustrate a story about the need for park volunteers (the pond being another of Chris’ passions). The striking image did the trick and in August a specially framed print was presented to Chris during a celebratory get together in the club house of Queen’s Park Tennis Club to thank him for his years of devoted service.
A new date for the Wild Garden clearance is fixed
A new date for the clearance of the Wild Garden to replace an earlier date, which had to be postponed at the last minute, has been fixed.
The new date, when volunteers will be invited to join a team from Sussex Wildlife Trust, is Saturday, 27th January. A reminder nearer the date will be sent out. Volunteers will be asked to meet at 10:30 am at the entrance to the park at the top of North Drive.
Date for AGM is announced
The Friends of Queen’s Park’s Annual General Meeting will take place on Wednesday, 25th October.
The meeting, which is open to all members of the local community, will take place in the club house of the Friends of Queen’s Park Tennis Club and will start at 7 pm.
Freddie the Dachshund triumphs at Bark
Freddie the Dachshund triumphed at the 2023 Bark in the Park dog show. He won Best in Show, sponsored by the Camelford Arms, much to the delight of his human, actor Charles Brunton.
Earlier Freddie had won the Temptation Alley class, which was sponsored by Moshimo.
To view the official Friends of Queen’sPark video by produced and directed by Keith Worthington click HERE.