Acocks Green Recreation Ground is the home of Acocks Green Carnival and a valuable green space in our community. Local residents are keen to work together to enhance this attractive park and to encourage other local people to become involved. Come along to the first meeting to find out more about plans for the park and how you might be able to lend hand. All details below:
Help support the local foodbank for those struggling financially. You can donate at Stockfield Park on Wednesdays and Saturdays. All the details below.
Locals may have noticed some work going on in Westley Vale Millennium Green in the last week or so. Firstly the Wildlife Trust suggested that the slope in the vale would be perfect for a wildflower meadow. This is part of the work that the charity do to enhance the environment for wildlife. The flowers will encourage bees, butterflies and other useful pollinating insects.
The Wildlife Trust clearing the ground ready for seed-sowing.
Three people from the Wildlife Trust arrived to clear the ground ready for the planting a couple of weeks ago. The next stage is to put down a fast-acting weedkiller. For the flowers to flourish they need to get rid of perennial couch grass and other ground covering plants. The seeds will then be sown and will flower early summer. Below is a message from the Wildlife Trust about our meadow:
The Wildlife Trust for Birmingham and the Black Country and The Westley Vale Millennium Green Trust are creating a meadow here!
Meadows are great for wildflowers, meadow grasses and the bees, butterflies and small mammals that live in them. The grass in this area has been cut and will be treated to create a seedbed for the new meadow. The treatment is not harmful to people or animals. In a few weeks the area will be sown with meadow species and within two to three years a perennial meadow abundant with flowers will establish.
Also earlier in the year the trustees applied for a grant to improve the site from the Tesco carrier bag fund. This grant is now being spent. Some of the pathways are being improved and the broken numbered posts that make up a nature trail are being replaced. To coincide with this there will be a map of the Millennium Green featuring the numbered trail, pointing out what to notice on the walk around our precious hidden green space.
Congratulations to the Village in Bloom team who did it again and were awarded a GOLD by the Royal Horticultural Society. Lots of hard work and support from a network of local businesses and individuals has really brightened up our Village. The RHS campaign slogan is ‘Greening Grey Britain’. This has definitely been achieved in Acocks Green.
The Gold Team on the Central Island
Time is approaching for bulb-planting. Hundreds of bulbs have been purchased ready to plant in the large containers along the Warwick Road. Local people are invited to come along and help plant the bulbs to fill the village with spring colours – a mass of narcissi daffodils and colourful tulips. The team would love anyone who would like to come and help plant some bulbs, young or old, to meet at the orchard in Mallard Close at 10am on the dates below. Equipment will be provided, but if you have trowels and gardening gloves bring them along. Then when springtime comes along you can feel you have helped brighten up our village and played a part in the success of Village in Bloom!
Sunday 16th October 10am – Narcissi bulb-planting
Sunday 10th November 10am – Tulip bulb-planting
This Thursday at Fox Hollies Park..
The main enrolment week for Birmingham Adult Education Service starts Monday 5th September.
Birmingham Adult Education Centre – Stone Hall, Acocks Green
There are a wide variety of courses, plenty in Acocks Green at Stone Hall Adult Education Centre on Warwick Road, as well as 15 other centres around Birmingham. You can call in or phone Stone Hall directly on 0121 464 9150. The full course programme is also available at Acocks Green Library to take away and peruse.
For general enquiries phone 0121 303 4318 for general course or visit www.learnbaes.ac.uk
Some courses are free, depending on your circumstances and previous qualifications.
Sign up this week and take the first step to a new interest, qualification or adventure in learning!
Every library in Birmingham runs the Summer Reading Challenge each summer holidays. The challenge to children is to read 6 books during the school holidays and write reviews of the books. There are incentive rewards along the way and a special certificate if you complete the challenge. The books you read can be any type, whether its fiction, joke books or factual, just as long as you read it and write a review. So don’t delay sign up the the Challenge. This year it has a Roald Dahl theme and is called the Big Friendly Read, promoting the the centenary of Roald Dahl’s birth.
Acocks Green is also lucky to be on the The Big Read Book Bench Trail this year (similar to the Owl Trail last year), the benches have been hand decorated by schools and groups and placed around Birmingham and beyond. There are 175 benches altogether in place until 13th September. You can pick up a map at the library which shows you where to find them all. AG library is lucky enough to have 5 benches to see and tick off all hand directed with different designs and themes.
As well as that there this there are other free children’s activities in the library this summer including craft sessions, a puppet show for younger children, jewellery making and a showing of the BFG on 31st August. Call in to find out more.
Also House of Play and Education have lots of free activities:
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Acocks Green Neighbourhood Forum 