Springtime at the Bridge

My name is Lucie and I took over as General Manager at the end of last year. This is my first newsletter in my new role so I wanted to take the time to introduce myself and a few new things that The Bridge is working towards.

I’m a local mum with two young daughters, two older step children and a past career in large scale, high profile event management. I became involved at The Bridge as a volunteer in 2013 and really have a huge passion for the centre. It was a lifeline to me as a new mum in the area and I’ve made some life long friends through it. I’m really pleased to be the new GM and hope we can make a big difference to our brilliant community.

Firstly, let me mention that our Christmas event was so successful in 2018, we had nearly 140 children visit Father Christmas in our FREE grotto so thank you for your support.

With Christmas behind us, we really just cannot wait for Spring. So much so, we’ve dedicated a whole new event to it’s arrival…On Saturday 23rd March, we will be hosting Springtime at The Bridge. It will include our much loved Easter egg hunt and trail but also, Mother’s Day gift making, seed planting and pot decorating, market stalls and face painting. We want our events to cater for everyone so entrance to the event is FREE (there will be a small charge for the egg hunt/trail). As usual, the under 5s will take place in The Bridge itself and the over 5s trail will take place in the Pleasaunce.

The beautiful new Willow Arch, opened recently, is a great addition to compliment the Forest School opened last year. The willow arch has been a genuine collaboration of so many in the local community- all made possible in the first place through a generous gift from a local family, celebrating the christening of their child.

After careful thought and planning, The Bridge, approached the Parks department at Greenwich Council who kindly donated the willow rods, talented local metal craftsman Danny Herridge, who constructed the beautiful iron framework, and volunteers from local charitable keep fit group, GoodGym Greenwich, who came to the rescue with the challenging planting that was required! GoodGym provide hands-on project support for not-for-profit groups and during two evening running sessions GoodGym Greenwich volunteers lifted, carried, dug, positioned and planted before continuing on their running route!

Last year The Bridge was awarded  £7701 from the Big Lottery Fund for creation of a new “green zone” and improvements to the forest school area.  The grant will help to fund Forest School Leadership training fees, gardening and outdoor-play equipment, and installation of gates and benches for the multi-functional outdoor area known as the ‘Green Zone @ The Bridge’. The Green Zone aims to encourage parents and children to work together to develop their understanding of, and skills relating to, the natural environment within the urban setting. It encompasses The Bridge’s existing Gardening Club, which runs weekly sessions for pre-schoolers, the Forest School launched earlier this year, and habitats for wildlife such as bee and bug boxes and a wormery, as well as providing a teaching resource through a series of compost bins, which will be constructed with the help of Age UK Bromley & Greenwich’s ‘Men in Sheds’ group. The compost bins and wormery aim to turn suitable food waste from the centre’s users, such as apple cores and vegetable peelings, into compost and liquid fertiliser to be used by the Gardening Club, helping children to understand and visualise the consequences and benefits of recycling.

For more information about the Bridge, including timetables, visit its website or its Facebook group.