Blog

S.H.I.P (Southchurch Hall Inspirational Parkers) is a constitutional charity who came together with one thing in common: we love our local park. Unfortunately, it had become neglected, which attracted people displaying all kinds of antisocial behaviour. Our mission...

We just can’t believe that S.H.I.P has been busily working within the Gardens for one year now. What a year We are so proud of our achievements to date and are looking forward to the year ahead. To celebrate we invited people to join us in the museum to share their...

Throwing bread in to the pond of our local park o attract the attention of the ducks is played out by children the world over. However, feeding ducks bread isn’t good for them. They love it and will eat it, but it just bloats them so much that they don’t naturally...

We have some fantastic news to share with you all – S.H.I.P has won a £10,000 grant from the National Lottery Fund. We are over the moon and will spending the money on improving the equipment, tools and PPE (Personal Protective Equipment) that the volunteers have to...

Well what a year for S.H.I.P so far. We held our first AGM in May. We have been getting stronger in the community making connections with various organisations for example: our Chairperson was nominated for an Essex Police Commissioners’ Award. We have linked with the...

By the middle of February, the Council Gardeners had completed their schedule of work within the Gardens with the dredging and clearing of the ponds. For the first time in years the water level raised and the wonderful sound of trickling water was heard again. With...

With the bleak winter months nearly behind us now we are appreciating the hard work we have all put in to these magnificent gardens. Southend Council Garden Team has been very present continuing to coppice and trim hedges as well as low level dredging in some areas of...

As well as the usual litter picking and general gardening the roses were pruned back to encourage new growth for next year. We were surprised just how much rubbish was hidden underneath the overgrown rose gardens. The Council Gardeners turned up in force to clear and...

A busy month in the park with cutting back the rapidly growing foliage which, following the heatwave, took over the paths and steps making some areas impassable. With very little gardening other than mowing & tree felling done by the Council’s Parks Team this year the...

A busy Summer with lots of new volunteers joining us and bringing their own ideas & skills. Finding innovative methods to remove ‘surprising’ rubbish is a challenge but always ultimately rewarding. The extra help is hugely appreciated and the entire team of...

What a successful month with a record number of volunteers on board to help with the litter picking we were able to branch off (excuse the pun) and concentrate on digging over a few beds to keep them weed free and prepare the soil for some bulb planting. As you will...

SHIP members were delighted to attend Southend Soup on 28th May 2017. This is a fabulous community event which takes place every two months in various locations around Southend. We were made to feel very welcome and met some amazing people… great soup too! We pitched,...

It was another great meet on Saturday. We appear to be getting on top of the litter in the park, which makes it a much nicer placer to be. On our first meet up in the park we collected over 8 full sacks of litter, and we are pleased to say this has now than halved....

This is our first blog so please bare with us. We are on a mission to make to rejuvenate our iconic park. Here are some pics of our previous meets, we are always looking for new people to help so please get in contact.