The community hall is still out of action, so we have booked the PARISH HALL for this year’s AGM.  As usual it’s not a traditional AGM, more a review of the year, a chance to get together to discuss the Park and to look ahead. The meeting will be on:

Wednesday 24th April, 7.30pm

We look forward to seeing you.

North Lodge Park Playful Connection

Our planning permission application for the playful connection project was approved in February, with a couple of conditions to be resolved and we have agreed outline  terms for a 10 year lease on the land from NNDC.  We are finalising some of the details of the project and are ready to share these with you at the AGM.

The are still lots of actions needed to pull the project together before we can start building – not least making sure we have all the money in place. 

Through your commitment to the Park, and a significant contribution from Cromer Town Council,  we already have over half the money in place, and will be looking for grants to cover much of the shortfall. 

At the AGM we will be launching a public appeal to give the community the opportunity to sponsor the project and become part of the story of North Lodge Park.

Through the Easter School holidays families can explore North Lodge Park in rhyme

Saturday 6^th April to  Sunday 21^st April inclusive

This Easter, families can explore North Lodge Park with the help of a special Treasure Hunt. Carefully prepared by a trainee Bard, the rhyming couplets will encourage children to look around them and find the answers to the simple clues around the Park. On completion of the Treasure Hunt, the use of the magic word in the cafe will release an Easter Egg for successful children. Come and see what wonders there are in North Lodge Park.

The treasure hunt (and Easter Eggs!) will be available during cafe hours (10am-4pm Tuesday to Sunday)

Nominal Entry cost: £1 each (with Easter Egg for all who complete it)

Thanks to Kinnerton for their support.

Mother’s Day Special – Sunday March 31st 2019

You’ll get

The Friends of North Lodge Park have been selected by Waitrose North Walsham to be one of their charities for March, which means we will get a share of this month’s £1000, based on the ‘votes’ made with their token scheme. I don’t need to tell you that the more tokens in our box the bigger our share of the cake, and we all like big portions of cake.

A huge thank-you to all the volunteers who stepped up to help out at this year’s skating event in the Park.  For 5 days the park was full of happy families taking advantage of the synthetic ice rink provided by Wonder Ice.

This wouldn’t have been possible without the exceptional support from the community, both joining in the fun, and their ongoing support for the cafe – it’s the profits from the cafe that underwrite such big cost events and make them happen – and North Norfolk District Council.

Tuesday, 5 February 2019 from 15:30-18:00

A Giant Dragon, floating lanterns, art activities & Chinese snacks.
Come to North Lodge Park for this free event to celebrate the Chinese New Year. See the amazing floating dragon on the boating pond; make your own Chinese themed art; enjoy delicious Chinese finger food kindly donated by the Kanton restaurant. Come along from 3.30pm, the Cafe will be open until 6pm.

In 2018 we launched a new event to the Cromer calendar as an addition to the popular Crab and Lobster Festival: the CROMER GARDENING FESTIVAL. This festival fringe event, built on the enormous success of the Crab and Lobster Festival, providing the thousands of visitors with an extra focus during the weekend. Across the day there were numerous gardening themed events for all from experienced gardeners to young (aspiring) gardeners, with a range of gardening related stalls, including many plant specialists, selling a range of plants and other products for the garden. Several thousand people came making it a really successful launch year.

May 2019 will be the 90th anniversary of the formation of North Lodge Park and the 10th anniversary of the Crab and Lobster Festival so as well as a GARDENING FESTIVAL on Saturday May 18th 2019 there will be lots of birthday celebrations making the day a much bigger event.

If you would like to take part in this exciting festival please get in touch with your proposals for the day. We are looking for creative ideas around the gardening theme to make the day really special.

If you would like a stall to sell products, these are available under the same terms as the main Crab and Lobster festival, but with discounts for booking early:

• Standard 3m x 3m £35, book by 14 February 2019 for only £30
• Double 6m x 4m £60, book by 14 February 2019 for only £50
• Large 10m x 5m £100, book by 14 February 2019 for only £80

You can download the attached booking form here

Please get in touch should you need more information: friends@northlodgepark.org.uk

We look forward to another exciting fringe festival

The Co-op Local Community Fund helps to support local projects that Co-op members care about. Since its launch in 2017, Co-op members have raised £39 million pounds for over 12,000 local causes. We’re delighted that Friends of North Lodge Park will now be able to access this funding opportunity.

The Co-op High Street store in the centre of Cromer has a membership scheme (a modern form of co-op stamps…) which rewards you for shopping at the store. Every time a member shops at the Co-op, in addition to their personal reward, 1% of what they spend on Co-op branded products and services helps fund community projects.

Members can select a cause for their donations: for the next 12 months the Friends of North Lodge Park are one of the causes you can select. If you are already a member, log onto your account and select us as your cause (or you can do so in store). If you aren’t a member please join up – even little spends in the shop will help our charity.

coop.co.uk/membership