Updates July 2023

Lettings

Our dear friend Elaine who has been our volunteer has decided to move on and finish her role as our letting secretary to focus on other hobbies. We all thank her for her dedication in her role over many years.

Our new letting secretary is Len Beardsley who is also a member of the committee. I look forward to working with him in the coming months.

Mundy Room

The committee has agreed to carryout some maintenance work on the Mundy Community room. The work shall be carried out by a number of volunteers over the next month or so.

It will include a new door, painting and decorating, the installation of a new sink and a limited supply of running water which should be drinkable.

If you would like to volunteer and help the committee to paint the room please let me know by sending me an e-mail or posting a note in the post box.

The future

As you know, as advertised on our facebook page, we have place a suggestion box in the Mundy Community Room. The Committee would like to hear from you about how you would like to see the Association grow over the mid to long term. For example What facilities would you like to see developed, what plans do you think could be implemented?

If you have ideas that would benefit the community as a whole then please complete the form in the suggestion box and place your ideas in the post box
 

Richard Cox

ARDAA Secretary

The Buzz Club

Pollinators are so important to us all - not only allotmenteers.

"The Buzz Club is a citizen-science charity consisting of scientists and non-scientists, adults and children, all working together to find out more about our garden wildlife, and what we can best do to help them! The Buzz Club was founded in 2015, with the aim of harnessing the power of citizen science to generate important data on pollinators."

More information at https://www.thebuzzclub.uk

Committee Members 2022

Committee Members 2022

NAME POSITION CONTACT DETAILS PLOT NUMBER
Benita Notley Chair
HS&E Coordinator
chair [at] araa.org.uk
01332 485 018
87
Richard Cox Secretary secretary [at] araa.org.uk
01332 485 018
125B
Dave Hancox Treasurer treasurer [at] araa.org.uk
01332 485 018
31
Len Beardsley Committee   99
Kevin Clark     2
Aidan Murtagh     9
Simon Roe     10
 

The Association phone number is 01332 485 018. This number is not answered 24/7, leave your message and we will get back to you as soon as possible.

Please respect that all committee and non-committee members are volunteers and would want to have time on their respective plots.

No query or issue requiring the committee’s action will be delt with unless conveyed in writing, either by post or e-mail. A written message can be left in a post box located outside the Allotment office or Gate

Thank you

A massive thank you to all the Members who volunteered their time and energy for the National Garden Scheme weekend.

Thank you to everyone who opened their plots, the refreshments team, the team on the gate, the cake makers, the volunteers who maintain the site and set up the marquees, and anyone else who contributed to the fantastic weekend.  

With the sweltering heat we know it wasn’t easy but your efforts really were appreciated and the feedback received from our visitors has been incredible.

We raised a very respectable £1116.73 for the NGS and £606.49 for the Association.

Well done everyone! Great work!

Recognised once again with a Green Flag

Once again, we are proud to be recipients of a Green Flag, the international quality mark for parks and green spaces.

Never before has the value of free to access parks and green spaces been more important, with parks continuing to provide a sanctuary for communities to engage with nature, improve their physical and mental health, play and come together.

Our Green Flag Community Award recognises the thousands of hours that our volunteers commit each year to our wonderful community green space. The site was assessed, back in May, against 24 criteria including safety, security, biodiversity, maintenance, heritage and community involvement. We received the highest grade which was summarised by the judge with:

“It was a pleasure to walk round Ashbourne Road Allotments, the site exudes a calm and inspiring atmosphere with everyone on site friendly and enthusiastic. The award is a well deserved recognition of the all the hard work, individually and collectively, that is on show.”

Commenting on our award, the Association’s Secretary, Julia Slater said:

“We are once again honoured to receive a Green Flag Community Award.  

Managing and maintaining an allotment site is not without its challenges but with enthusiastic, committed volunteers we are able to provide a safe and welcoming green space for our members and the wider community to enjoy.  This Green Flag Community Award is recognition for all those volunteers.

I personally am proud of what has been achieved at Ashbourne Road District Allotment Association over the past decade. Whilst it is obviously important to manage and maintain our allotment site for today, the volunteer management committee are ever conscious of the need to protect it for future generations to enjoy.”