News from 2017
December - January
Christmas Tree Festival
29 November - 3 December
Around 30 local businesses, charities and voluntary organisations including Maes y Pant have adopted and decorated Christmas trees in All Saints Church, which are all on display from Wednesday to Sunday this week. There is an opportunity to vote for your favourite tree if you wish to do so. Entry is Free, Refreshments available and craft activities on site too if you want to try out something new.
There will also be an Advent Carol Service at 6pm on Sunday 3rd December - Everyone Welcome
Please come along and support this event organised by All Saints Church which is being held to raise funds for Nightingale and Hope House Hospices
Around 30 local businesses, charities and voluntary organisations including Maes y Pant have adopted and decorated Christmas trees in All Saints Church, which are all on display from Wednesday to Sunday this week. There is an opportunity to vote for your favourite tree if you wish to do so. Entry is Free, Refreshments available and craft activities on site too if you want to try out something new.
There will also be an Advent Carol Service at 6pm on Sunday 3rd December - Everyone Welcome
Please come along and support this event organised by All Saints Church which is being held to raise funds for Nightingale and Hope House Hospices
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Our thanks to MyPAG Directors Joyce and Jenny, and Gordon Adams who made many of the decorations from materials
from Maes y Pant, and decorated the tree on our behalf. And even added their signature - spot the 'J&J'! |
Co-op Local Cause
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Marford Hill Coop has chosen Maes y Pant's 'Trees for Kids' project as one of three local projects to benefit from income from sales of their own-brand products for 12 months until the end of October 2018.
The funds will go towards buying broad-leafed trees for Maes y Pant to replace some of the Corsican Pine trees removed earlier this year, which were non-native trees and have very little ecological value. The trees will be planted by, or for, local children aged up to 11 and we aim to fit name tags to the trees so the children will have a sense of ownership of their own tree. We hope that this will engage the children with Maes y Pant, with wildlife and nature, and encourage them to enjoy and respect the environment. To help us with this, if you have Coop membership we need you to log onto www.membership.coop.co.uk and find 'Choose a local cause', then click on 'Maes y Pant Trees for Kids project'. There is more information about the project on the Coop site, and the funds come directly from the Coop, they are not taken from your 'Divi'. We hope you can support us! Thank you very much. |
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Wild Flowers
A couple of years ago, 1st Marford Guides planted some wild flower seeds in our meadow area. These were perennials so they took a little time to settle in but look at the results now - and the heritage apples we planted 3 years ago have done well as well. Mallows and bugloss have been spectacular and the rabbits even left us some cowslips in the spring. Thanks to Megan Hughes for the successful bid for funding and to Beryl Blackmore and the 1st Marford Guides for their efforts planting the seeds. Another area at the far side of the meadow was planted with a Montgomeryshire Mix and this has put on another great display. Thanks to Norma Williams who has been a regular walker with Actif Woods for buying these for us. These areas have now (September) been mowed so we hope for even better results next year!
This year we applied for seeds from the Kew Gardens Wildflowers project. This time St Peter's School, Rossett is involved, led by Ceri Peacock. The children made the seeds up into little clay 'bombs' and will be planting them in October - again in the meadow.
4 patches have been cleared for them. We are really looking forward to the results.
This year we applied for seeds from the Kew Gardens Wildflowers project. This time St Peter's School, Rossett is involved, led by Ceri Peacock. The children made the seeds up into little clay 'bombs' and will be planting them in October - again in the meadow.
4 patches have been cleared for them. We are really looking forward to the results.
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Progress Report
Well, we're pleased to say that we are getting plenty of use out of our refurbished and new facilities. Here's some photos to show what we've been up to so far in 2017. Apart from the new gym equipment, we've re-made the steps to the viewpoint - no excuses for not using them now -and we've laid a wood chip surface in the woodland play area. Hope you enjoy them. Oh and I couldn't resist including a photo of Jessica, a visitor to Gresford, who really enjoyed the play area before we laid the wood chip.
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Bear Hunt
If you went down in the woods on Sunday 23 April you might have had a big surprise. A pleasant one we hope.
Beryl Blackmore and the Gresford Guides had organised a bear hunt in aid of their funds.
Good time had by all.
Beryl Blackmore and the Gresford Guides had organised a bear hunt in aid of their funds.
Good time had by all.
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Tesco Bags of Help Award
What we've spent the money on!
Back in December 2016, Tesco customers voted to award funding from the sale of 5p plastic carrier bags to local projects. Maes y Pant was awarded a whopping £12,000, which has been spent on a woodland adventure play area for young children: and for our bigger kids and fitness enthusiasts, some monkey bars and overhead rings for the woodland gym. The children's play area was created by Simon O'Rourke and his team almost entirely from wood felled during the work that took place in February. The woodland gym equipment was supplied and fitted by SportsDirect, who had supplied some of our earlier equipment. And a heads up to Claire Sutcliffe and her Boot Camp team who held their own fund-raising event to add a boost to the equipment funding. We hope that these additions to Maes y Pant will add to the enjoyment of our many users of all ages.
Back in December 2016, Tesco customers voted to award funding from the sale of 5p plastic carrier bags to local projects. Maes y Pant was awarded a whopping £12,000, which has been spent on a woodland adventure play area for young children: and for our bigger kids and fitness enthusiasts, some monkey bars and overhead rings for the woodland gym. The children's play area was created by Simon O'Rourke and his team almost entirely from wood felled during the work that took place in February. The woodland gym equipment was supplied and fitted by SportsDirect, who had supplied some of our earlier equipment. And a heads up to Claire Sutcliffe and her Boot Camp team who held their own fund-raising event to add a boost to the equipment funding. We hope that these additions to Maes y Pant will add to the enjoyment of our many users of all ages.
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Plant Sale and Coffee Morning
It's that time of year again ..... our annual fund-raiser and social event has been arranged for Saturday 20th May, 10am in Church House, Gresford (LL12 8RG) and we look forward to seeing as many of you as possible there. We will be grateful for donations of any plants, cuttings and seedlings that you can spare. An additional attraction this year will be a display of art from prize-winning local artist James Rowley, whose extensive collection includes a series of woodscapes depicting Maes y Pant. https://theoppositeoftomato.wordpress.com/
All funds raised will go towards maintaining Maes y Pant, and we always look forward to hearing your (constructive) ideas, comments and suggestions for future work and improvements. So please come along and join us for tea, coffee, juice, teacakes and biscuits, cake stall and raffle and to donate / sell / buy lots of plants.
All funds raised will go towards maintaining Maes y Pant, and we always look forward to hearing your (constructive) ideas, comments and suggestions for future work and improvements. So please come along and join us for tea, coffee, juice, teacakes and biscuits, cake stall and raffle and to donate / sell / buy lots of plants.
Friends of MyPAG 4th Annual Meeting
Our 4th Annual Friends meeting will be held at Church House on Tuesday 17 April 2018 at 7.30pm. We will report back on current issues and developments and take Friends views of actions we should be taking. We also hope to have a guest speaker which will confirm at a later date. All are welcome. If you aren't a Friend and would like to join, please complete the form. It's still only £10 per year or £15 for a family membership.
Hog Roast Thanks
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Our thanks to everyone who turned out to join us for the 'Hog Roast' on 8th April. Perfect weather, and over 100 people accepted our invitation to the event. Amongst the guests were Simon and Liz O'Rourke - Simon and his men were responsible for creating the new Childrens Adventure Area which is already attracting lots of excited children. Representatives of Tesco, who funded the Adventure Area from their 'Bags for Life' community grant scheme came along and ended up with a job serving up the pork baps (thank you so much, we loved having you with us). It was good to see representatives of our local Community Council who have supported our project in the past. Thank you too, to the Big Lottery's 'Community Celebrations' grant which funded the event. Finally thanks to the directors of Maes y Pant who helped with the organisation, serving food and drinks, and of course to everyone who came along and supported the event.
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Hog Roast
Thanks to a grant from the Big Lottery 'Community Celebrations' award scheme, Maes-y-Pant are holding a Hog-roast close to the car park on Saturday April 8th from 1.30pm to celebrate receiving a 'Green Flag' award for the site. Also hopefully, to celebrate completion of the childrens adventure play area. We are inviting all those people who have helped over the past six years to get Maes-y-Pant up and running - people like the Friends of Maes-y-Pant; Gresford Community Councillors; Maes-y-Pant Board members, and neighbours of the site as well as other individuals who have supported us so strongly. Numbers are limited and invitations will be sent out shortly, so if you receive one please be sure to respond so that we can cater accordingly. We will need to maintain a list of acceptances to make sure everyone who replies to the invitation is fed!
For people whose email addresses we have on record, you will be contacted electronically. Where we only hold addresses, you will receive a letter before the end of March. We look forward to meeting you in Maes y Pant on 8th April, and thank you for your continuing support. And please, bring the sunshine with you!!
For people whose email addresses we have on record, you will be contacted electronically. Where we only hold addresses, you will receive a letter before the end of March. We look forward to meeting you in Maes y Pant on 8th April, and thank you for your continuing support. And please, bring the sunshine with you!!
Winter Works
Please be aware that commencing late January / early February, contractors will be on site.
They will be felling trees as part of improvement works to thin out the Corsican pine trees and to create clearings. This work, which has been approved and licensed by National Resources Wales (NRW), will allow more light into Maes y Pant and enhance the wildlife, flora and fauna on the site. We hope to keep Maes y Pant open during these works, but please be aware of the dangers of heavy machinery on site. Make sure to follow any cautionary signs and directions from contractors and MyPAG officials. Part of the car park will be closed to ensure that contractors vehicles have continuous access as required. Also during the winter, an adventure area for young children will be created using wood felled on site.
Funds for this project have been provided by Tesco 'Bags of Help' scheme.
They will be felling trees as part of improvement works to thin out the Corsican pine trees and to create clearings. This work, which has been approved and licensed by National Resources Wales (NRW), will allow more light into Maes y Pant and enhance the wildlife, flora and fauna on the site. We hope to keep Maes y Pant open during these works, but please be aware of the dangers of heavy machinery on site. Make sure to follow any cautionary signs and directions from contractors and MyPAG officials. Part of the car park will be closed to ensure that contractors vehicles have continuous access as required. Also during the winter, an adventure area for young children will be created using wood felled on site.
Funds for this project have been provided by Tesco 'Bags of Help' scheme.
