Friends of Eaton Park
Friends of Eaton Park is a community group that aims to help Eaton Park thrive. It is open to anyone who loves Eaton Park and wants to help. We work with the park’s many user groups, Norwich City Council and others to promote the park and the good things that go on here. We organise heritage, wildlife, gardening and schools activities and raise funds for these and for things such as benches and ping pong tables for the park. We champion nature in the park and offer sociable and enjoyable ways for people to get involved.
To find out how to join Friends of Eaton Park and for more on volunteering opportunities, donations and other useful reading, go to the red box on the right hand side of this page and the three blue buttons just below.
Friends of Eaton Park – Timeline Highlights
Friends of Eaton Park is one of the earliest park friends groups in the UK.In 2007, when the group was set up, the idea of a Friends group for a park was still very new. Over the years the work we do has expanded and changed. In fact our work constantly evolves, just as the park itself, and it’s users’ interests and needs also change.
This timeline is a snapshot of highglights each year of the group’s existence since 2007. Some activities have come and gone, others have become permanent features of our work. One thing is certain, the park has gone from strength to strength. We hope you enjoy learning more about Friends of Eaton Park.
Click here to read Friends of Eaton Park Timeline Highlights
Membership
It costs as little as £5 to join:
- support our work helping Eaton Park thrive
- 6-8 newsletters and updates a year
- opportunities to get involved through walks, events and volunteering (see Volunteering below)
- discounted annual household membership of Norwich Parks Tennis (£30 instead of £40. Email karen@nationaltennis.org.uk for details).
- 10% off in Eaton Park Cafe on hot drinks and all foods on the menu, just not snacks
Click here for a pdf membership form that you can complete, save and email back to us. The form includes bank details so you can pay online.
Volunteer
The Friends get involved in Eaton Park in many different ways. To find out more or to talk about possibilities email info@friendsofeatonpark.co.uk
Gardening Group
First Thursday of the month,10am to midday, meet at the Rotunda
Active, sociable sessions helping with ‘icing on the cake’ tasks to compliment the work done by the Norwich Norse (Environmental) Ltd. We look after the bandstand flower beds, a small orchard, flower beds beside the boat and lily ponds, and raised herb beds in the Café garden. We also do occasional dead-heading in the rose garden.
Schools Group
School sessions, four – April to September, planning meetings, two
Each year we work closely with one class from Bluebell School, litterpicking, doing sessions on art and nature, and sharing a celebration with games and a picnic at the end of the summer. We work alongside the class teacher and teaching assistants, and really get to know them and the children. It’s a great chance to share our love of the park with the children and to support their classroom work with learning activities in our glorious park.
Woodlands and meadows activities
Approximately three five-hour sessions, drop in
We aim for a couple of sessions a year, sometimes working with Norwich Fringe or TCV (The Conservation Volunteers). Woodland work involves coppicing,thinning, planting whips, laying down woodchip pathways and clearing brambles to encourage wild flowers. Meadow work involves surveys, seed collecting, disturning the ground with mattocks, sowing seeds and, we hope, scything too.
Open days, heritage and bands
We open the Friends Room several Sunday afternoons a year, mostly for band days. Volunteers are there to tell people about the park and the Friends and to gather people’s memories and other feedback. For rooftop tours, volunteers give a whistle-stop introduction to the park from the rotunda rooftop before time for photo-opps.
Donate
Bands, bat boxes and more
We need funds to put on brass band concerts, buy plants and bulbs, pay experts to lead nature walks and to buy bird and bat boxes. If you would like to make a donation please email info@friendsofeatonpark.co.uk. There are many options and we’ll be happy to talk through ideas with you or just tell you how.
Eaton Park Fountain
We would like to repair the rose garden fountain and are looking into how to do this and what it will cost. Waitrose, Eaton has given us an initial generous donation of £1000 to start things off. We hope to launch a campaign later this year. In the mean time, we would love to hear from companies or individuals who would like to help restore this important park feature.
Trees
We support Norwich City Council tree team in it’s work sustaining the park’s tree-lined avenues, its woodlands, copses and individual trees. Together we are also developing plans to plant up new areas of trees in the park. To sponsor a tree in Eaton Park sign up for the city’s ‘Trees for Norwich’ scheme and put ‘Eaton Park’ under ‘Location’.
Benches
If you think you might be interested in donating a bench to Eaton Park click here for our Information Sheet which tells you all you need to know.
Further reading
Eaton Park Management Plan 2023-2028, 2024 update
Eaton Park Management Plan 2023 to 2028 Appendices
Andy Anderson’s book, ‘The Captain and the Norwich Parks’ is available to buy from Jarrold and City Books.