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WOOLSTON

October 2023

Clear noticeboard panes installed

The noticeboard panes, which had become almost impossible to see through because of sun damage, were replaced with beautiful, clear polycarbonate panes which this time are UV protected on both sides. The notices are now gloriously easy to read. Do come down to see them and find out what's going on in Woolston.

All work was carried out by our small team of volunteers.

Photo of noticeboard with lovely clear new panes.

 

June 2022

Feather plinth painted

On a hot summer's day volunteers gave the feather plinth a much needed fresh coat of paint and it's now looking very smart.
Click on the link below the photo to see an image of the plinth before it was painted.

The feather plinth given a fresh coat of paint.

Feather_plinth_pre-paint_2022.jpg

 

23 April 2022

Garden featured in Radio Solent's 'Clued Up' programme!

On Saturday morning 23 April 2022 the Millennium Garden was featured on Radio Solent's 'Clued Up' programme. Listeners are given various clues and have to guess where the presenter is. The Garden was chosen for its contribution to the cultural life of Southampton as this particular episode of the programme was showcasing Southampton's bid to be the next UK City of Culture. Find the programme recording on iPlayer!
Photo: Radio Solent's Suzanne on the left, with Garden volunteers Gaynor, Katie and Barry.

Photo of garden with Radio Solent presenter and 3 garden volunteers

 

2 December 2021

Please select us as your nominated Coop charity

We are delighted that Woolston Millennium Garden has been selected as a nominated charity by the Coop Society Community Fund 2021-2022. We have many important projects that need funding including:
*Essential tree surgery work.
*Improving lighting to the large feather sculpture.
*Cleaning and re-coating the steel walls.

The amount the Millennium Garden receives from the fund depends on Coop members selecting us as their charity. You can do this by:
a) Using the Coop App
b) Going to the website https://www.coop.co.uk/­local-causes
c) Calling the Coop Customer Services Team (0800 0686 727) and they will help you select us.

Please remember to swipe your Coop card when making purchases from the Coop.
If you’re not already a Coop member, why not join and then select us as your charity?

Thank you so much for helping us keep the Garden looking great for all to enjoy.

 

Eric's passing

In December 2021 we lost our dear fellow volunteer and friend Eric Cleverley. Eric had supported the Millennium Garden since it opened in 2002, visiting the garden every week to sweep and litter pick. He was always willing to stop and chat to passers-by and was known for his quick wit and humour. He will be missed.
Below is the wreath one of our volunteers made out of foliage from the Millennium Garden. Afterwards, funeral wreaths were laid at the allotments that Eric was a core member of.

Wreath for Eric Cleverley, volunteer, who died December 2021

 

30 September 2021

VOLUNTEERS NEEDED!

Once a month a small team of local volunteers tidy the garden and carry out any jobs that need doing but we need volunteers to litter pick and sweep the paths between times so that we can keep this garden looking great for everyone all the time.

If you can spare up to an hour of your time on a regular basis (be it once a month/fortnight/week) please call Gaynor on 023 8042 1694.

Thank you.

 

3 July 2021

The big reveal

Volunteers gave the pampas grass nearest to the noticeboard a big side hair cut during our latest maintenance session, revealing two stainless steel figures that had been buried within it! Below is the 'after' hair cut photo.

Photo of pampas grass recently given a big hair cut, revealing 2 hidden stainless steel figures.

 

8 March 2021

Back to work

Regular garden maintenance sessions have been disrupted for over a year now and in Covid-19 lockdown periods the garden team have been obliged to keep the garden up to scratch by attending individually.

We shall be starting the team maintenance days again at 09.45 on Saturday 10th April (socially distanced of course) and are looking forward to the return of some kind of normality. A little sunshine would be much appreciated as well!

 

28 September 2020

Let there be light

At last, the garden has four new colour changing LED lights on the back wall, with lighting modes set on a remote control and On/Off settings, programmed on a digital timer.
Soon after the new installation, the digital timer developed a fault and started running away with the time at 10 times the normal rate! Life is fast enough as it is, so the clock was replaced very quickly and all is well again.
One of the old LED light fittings was still viable so this has been installed in the canopy of the Umbrella Pine tree as an uplighter, with its own digital time clock.
All this work, amounting to £560, was funded by subscriptions from the Friends of the garden and a donation from Woolston Community Association. If you can help fill the large hole in our bank account, it would be much appreciated.

 

23 June 2020

Umbrella tree and lights

Things have been very quiet in the garden since March 2019, with just regular housekeeping on our monthly maintenance days. There were a couple of high points, or rather low points, when we had to spend £370.00 on reducing the canopy of the Umbrella Pine tree, as it was starting to envelope our neighbours property and then the coloured LED lights to the back wall failed and blew the main fuse. Power has now been restored and we are looking into the best deal to replace the LED lights.

Due to Corona virus, the team haven't been able to get together in the garden since 29th February 2020. Individuals have been tidying the garden occasionally during the lockdown, but we are pleased to report that we will be starting up operations again on Saturday 4th July 2020 for a socially distanced gardening session.

Please say hello as you pass through the garden!

 

7 March 2019

Woolston Millennium garden then......

Have a look at the two fascinating photographs below - one showing the present day garden site and the other superimposing the bombed out National Provincial bank onto the present day view. As you can see in the present day photo, an ornamental pier from the old bank still exists. The images are courtesy of Mike Johnson.
For a better view, go to our Picture Gallery page and click on the images.

Wartime Woolston superimposed on present day Woolston

 

....and now

Present day Woolston Millennium Garden

 

19 November 2018

Feather's foot freshened

We recently bought new masonry paint stock for the feather sculpture plinth and it has now been repainted in three vibrant colours. We just love a subtle paint job!

Newly painted feather plinth

 

12th November 2018

Communicare will be shining a light in Woolston

Communicare's now traditional Tree of Light in the millennium garden will be switched on by the Mayor of Southampton, Stephen Barnes-Andrews at 5pm on Saturday 1st December 2018. This will be preceded by carol singing from 4.30pm. Woolston Christmas Fayre will be underway in Victoria Road from 2pm.

 

28 Septermber 2018

Spotlight on the digital age

The old analogue timers for the back wall feature lights and the large Umbrella pine tree have been unreliable for quite a while now. At last they have been replaced with state-of-the-art digital timers, at a cost of £155.00, funded by the Friends of the Garden. These timers are far more accurate and automatically adjust for British Summer Time.

In 2017 the Christmas lights were moved from the Umbrella pine to one of the pine trees in the raised garden adjacent to the car park. We hope to install an up-lighter in the Umbrella tree canopy as soon as funds permit.

 

20 April 2018

Noticeboard - new pinboard backing

The old pinboards inside the noticeboard frames were degrading rapidly, due to drawing pin exhaustion and UV light damage. We decided not to replace them with the same kind of material and instead have fitted pre-finished metal panels over the existing pinboards, to enable us to use small magnets to secure posters.

The metal panels were donated free of charge, thanks to a local resident and his business connections. This meant we only spent £17.52 on stainless steel screws, drill bits and tiny magnets!

 

22nd December 2017

Spotlight on the garden

We are pleased to report that a LED spotlight has now been installed to highlight the feather sculpture. The spotlight is fitted and powered from an adjacent lamp post and there will be no ongoing running or maintenance costs to the garden. Many thanks are due to the Friends of Woolston Millennium Garden, as the spotlight installation was funded from their kind donations.

 

14th November 2016

Itchen Spitfires Running Club

Our bank account is looking a lot fitter following the receipt of a £400.00 donation from Itchen Spitfires Running Club. The club have been using the garden as a meeting/starting point for a long while now and the members really wanted to make a contribution to the upkeep and development of a place that they really love.

In recognition of their support, we are pleased to display their logo on a plaque which was attached to the feather sculpture plinth today.

You can find out more about the club at www.itchenspitfiresrc.co.uk where you will also find links to Facebook and Twitter.

 

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