Friends of Maryon and Maryon Wilson Parks
Open Meeting Minutes
Thursday October 8th, 2026, at 7.30 pm
Venue: Kinveachy Gardens
Minutes
Present- Christine Anthony, Chair (CA) Elen (EB) Emma – Secretary (EO) Gary (GD), Gulle (GS), Natalie (Treasurer)
Apologies- Glenda, Catherine, Steve
- CA opened the meeting.
- Minutes of the previous meeting (July, 2026), agreed as correct.
- Volunteer Updates. CA informed the meeting that Balfour Beatty (BB) has approached the Friends with an offer to do some volunteering. CA has made initial contact with the representative for BB and will circulate some dates for Committee members and representatives from BB to meet up and have a walk around our parks to discuss this further. EO informed the meeting that GoodGym (Greenwich), has also approached the Friends with an offer to support park activities. EO will contact the lead for GoodGym, to discuss further. They volunteer with Maryon Park Community Garden on the first Saturday of the month. GD suggested that the Friends move its monthly litter-pick, so that GoodGym can support Maryon Park Community Garden and also volunteer with the Friends. We were also approached by a representative at Ernst Young regarding volunteer opportunities. The representative was advised to contact the Trust for Conservation Volunteers Corporate Wing. EO will send a follow-up email to Ernst Young to find out what is happening.
- Maryon Wilson Park Centenary Festival debrief. All agreed that this was a very successful, happy, community event. GD reported that there were over 400 visitors to the festival, and that over 200 visitors participated in the creation of our new wood sculpture, Unity, in partnership with Creative Nature. There was discussion about the need for more publicity, to plan the event earlier, and to review start times of any future event. It was also felt that more performances from Charlton Park Academy, and local schoolchildren would enhance any future festival, and to invite local shopowners to participate too. It was also debated if a Saturday would be a better day for the festival. We would like to formally thank every visitor, neighbour, performer, guide, teacher, stall-holder, and Richard Gregory and his team, for helping to make the festival a success. We also thought a raffle would be a good way to raise money at a future event.
- Maryon Wilson Park Centenary Exhibition debrief. All agreed that overall, this too was a successful event (with a few mobilisation challenges). We were honoured to welcome our two ward councillors, Mayor David Gardener, and Councillor Jo Van den Broek, at this exhibition. It raised the profile of the Friends with Charlton House, and led to an invitation for CA to deliver a presentation on Maryon Wilson Park, at a Charlton Society meeting, in January, 2027. We hope that we will showcase part of this exhibition, at the St Thomas’s Autumn bazaar, on Saturday, November 7th, 2026.
- Update on grant funding applications. EO reported that we were partially successful in a recent grant application to the Metropolitan Public Gardens Association. We were unsuccessful in applying for an accessible picnic bench for our new meadow area (in Maryon Wilson Park). However, they kindly donated £100 towards wildflower seeds and spring bulbs for the meadow beds.
- Parks news. We have welcomed several new Friends over the past few months. The TCV has done a brilliant job of clearing streams and paths, creating dead hedges and a new den area, over the past year. The Friends also helped to reintroduce the Starved Wood-sedge to Maryon Wilson Park, in partnership with the Species Recovery Trust. Mayor Gardener and Councillor Van den Broek joined members of the Committee on a walkabout on Tuesday, 6th October, where they met Corporate Volunteers and TCV and helped to water the wood-sedge! We also discussed the ongoing and increasing issue of fly-tipping across all our parks.
- Interpretation Panel Update (Maryon Wilson Park). EO advised the meeting that the contents of the panels are almost ready to be signed off by the Council. We discussed locations for the panels. Initial ideas include: Thorntree Road (by the roundabout), near the goat pens, and at the top of the hill, near to Unity (close to the path behind the houses in Kinveachy Gardens).
- St Thomas’s Autumn Bazaar 7th November. The Friends will have a stall at this bazaar. We will sell plants, bric-a-brac and sweet treats. We will also plan to use Zeffy to receive donations straight onto Smartphones (and directly into the Friends bank account).
- Financial Report. Introduced by NZ (Treasurer).
- AOB
Friends discussed the possibility of a Christmas get-together to celebrate the end of a successful centenary year for Maryon Wilson Park. To be confirmed. We debated the merits of having fewer open meetings throughout the year, and possibly the creation of a regular newsletter instead. The date of the next open meeting will be confirmed later.
