On September 14th, we had the first “Big Event” at Hillside Gardens park, combining our traditional Sports Day with free activities for the whole family, with a film screening in the evening. Due to the weather forecast, we had to move the film screening indoors to the wonderful St Margaret the Queen. But on the big day, the weather proved to be much better than predicted.
Sports and Fun Day in Hillside Gardens Park
The day started at 10 am with Tai Chi, guided by local Tai Chi master Lee Berwick. Lee Berwick is a local TaiChi and QiGong teacher who you may have seen training in the park. He teaches locally online and in person, and if you are interested in being added to his mailing list, please send him an email (leeberwick7@gmail.com). The brilliant Lois Whittle then led us through a wonderful pilates session in the dog-free area. The day could hardly have started better. In the background, Robert did a million things throughout the day, small like organising tape, and big like organising flags, and much in between. And: still no rain.
Then, activities began all over the park. It was wonderful to see how popular all the activities in the allotment area were. Children made their own seed bombs, started a nature treasure hunt or explored our pond with Nick. Some visitors told us that they had never come to the park before, but came for the pond dipping. And: still no rain.
As always, the tennis activities run by Serious about Tennis were a big hit, and the court was filled with people of all ages playing tennis for more than three hours. The little ones then had fun with a party entertainer. And this year, for the first time, we had a workshop from Elite Korean Kickboxing UK, led by Coach Connor, who has fond memories of the park. The children and teenagers demonstrating their skills were seriously impressive. There was also mini golf and table tennis going on. Many of us stopped in between all these activities at the stand from the wonderful Math Explorers, who stimulated our brains with puzzles of all kinds.
For us as a Friends group, this was also a big day because this was the first time that we were able to sell drinks and snacks to collect donations for the park. These efforts were led by Eleanor and Nick, while Melodie, Steph and Evan also made significant contributions. The Friends made ÂŁ229.88; money that will go towards the park, of course. And still, there was no rain.
But then the rain came. And we could not end with the traditional Hillside Olympics, full of races and fun games. Next year.
Film Screening at St Margaret
Due to the weather, we could not show the film in the park, but St Margaret was a wonderful alternative location, which made it feel special as well. Around 5.30, the music started with a wonderful performance from Lilac Underworld. Listen to her music here on Spotify and find her here on Instagram. Then, while listening to wonderful cover versions of Bob Dylan songs, many of us enjoyed the Indian street food with a British twist cooked by the lovely people from Lucknow2London. One person wrote in our main WhatsApp group, “Some of the best food I’ve ever had!” I can only agree. And then, the wonderful team from the Streatham Free Film Festival showed “A Complete Unknown“. What a brilliant event.
Friends of Hillside Gardens And Palace Road Nature Garden 