With the generous support of the Community Fund
Inaugural General Meeting (IGM)
FOF held its IGM on Tues 12th July 2022 in the Field. Here we have Dwayne, Valter, Qiang, Margaret (the 'Chair'), Alicia, Duncan, and Colin
The group's aims and objectives were confirmed, and the Constitution was finalised. Our furry friends were in attendance too, of course
We elected the Committee and had a picnic to celebrate! Thanks to our Treasurer, Neil, for taking all the great photos!!
22nd July 2022
FOF had an away day to Grow NI at the Waterworks, followed by the community allotments at Whiterock Leisure Centre. Thanks so much to Pauline O'Flynn and Claire Peacock, as well as the other gardeners and volunteers, who took time out of their morning to hear our ideas and share some knowledge. It's great to experience how other community garden projects are taking place in Belfast.
28th August 2022
The Belfast MELA kindly welcomed FOF along to the annual festival at Botanic Gardens. We had the privilege of meeting lots of people interested in community gardening, as well as making new contacts with the community garden at Oxford Island. The reception was fantastic and we all had such a fun day. Thank you to Friends of Belfast Botanic Gardens also for their provisions and hospitality.
24th September 2022
Friends of the Field attended Climate Craic Festival in Ormeau Park, Belfast, to help spread the word about our community garden plans and the wider ideas for Lower Belfast Botanic Gardens. Another very warm and sunny day, getting lots of great feedback and making new friends. Thanks Climate Craic for having us along - you laid on a brilliant day!
22nd October 2022
With Northern Ireland being in a biodiversity crisis (ranked 12th worst in the world for biodiversity loss!!), some Friends sprinkle wildflower seeds on the bare patches left behind after QUB soil sampling. Hopefully these seeds will bloom to give our pollinators a helping-hand come late-Winter/ early-Spring.
19th November 2022
Keen to help the Field's wildlife population, restore biodiversity and bring some colour to the area, Friends of the Field coordinated a wildflower sowing day with support from The Conservation Volunteers (TCV), QUB staff and students, local residents, and even our local MLA Kate Nicholl and team! Thank you so much to everyone who helped out, it was a freezing cold day and sore on the arms, but lots and lots of fun! Looking forward to seeing how this meadow develops.
6th January 2023
Christmas brought a few party balloons, cans, and forgotten dog-mess bags to the field. An hour in the breezy morning made that better and the field is clean again. We've found that maintaining the area with a quick walkaround has reduced general litter and is largely sufficient to stay on top of it. Thanks to Belfast City Council CAT team for the equipment.
We're very excited about 2023 & hope to have new activities and announcements soon!
12th February 2023
Our quarterly review with friends of the field, old and new! We discussed upcoming plans to assist with an ecological survey of the site and how to create more habitats for nesting birds and bats! It was a real treat to have Peter Cush, local conservation enthusiast and founder of the NI Swift Group, down to do some bird-watching and share his wealth of knowledge. Thanks also to Margaret and Katy for the delicious treats, tea and coffee.
11th March 2023
Friends of the Field hosted 'Nests for Nature' - an event dedicated to getting the community together to create more habitats for our wildlife. It was a freezing cold day that eventually got to our extremities, but we still managed to build lots of bird boxes and bug hotels to place around the field. We'll be coordinating another event soon to build more bird boxes and bat boxes. Thank you also to our volunteers who helped remove piles of horrible litter from the tree bank! (See our gallery for pics!) And thanks to Belfast Media for visiting us Nature reserve and community garden by the banks of the Lagan (belfastmedia.com)