Category: News

Happy New Year!!

Thank you to everyone who came to volunteer in the Waterloo Seafront Gardens during 2025.

December was a quieter month for us, with just one event on the 13th when we had 12 volunteers (plus 3 dogs and one cat!) at our litter pick and then in the afternoon, 8 of us planted approximately 3,000 bulbs in Potter’s Barn.

Some dates for your 2026 diary!!  Our regular sessions will take place on the following days, with the venue to be decided and published nearer the time:

2nd Tuesday of each month at 10.00am – garden maintenance;

2nd Saturday of each month at 10.30am – litter picking;

3rd Sunday of each month at 2.00pm – garden maintenance; and

4th Wednesday of each month at 1.00pm – garden maintenance.

The dates for January 2026 will be:

Saturday 10th January litter picking at 10.30am in Adelaide Garden;

Tuesday 13th January – garden maintenance at 10.00am in Crescent Garden;

Sunday 18th January – pond/garden maintenance at 2.00pm in Beach Lawn;

Wednesday 28th January – garden maintenance at 1.00pm in Crescent Garden.

All litter picking and gardening equipment will be provided, as well as hot drinks and refreshments.  We don’t often cancel, but if the weather is doubtful, please keep an eye on our Facebook page for updates!

With best wishes,

Janet Markland

Friends of Waterloo Seafront Gardens

🌷🌷🌷HELP NEEDED!!🌷🌷🌷

We are looking for volunteers to come along to Potters Barn on Saturday 13th December at 2.00pm to help us plant bulbs in the grass around the Waterloo Rose bed.  If you can spare any time to come along and help it would be much appreciated!  (please see why below!)

November has been another busy month with 8 volunteers at our litter pick in Marine Garden.  At our Tuesday morning get together 3 of us finished off weeding the crazy paving in Marine Garden, and 4 of us weeded the steps in Beach Lawn at our Sunday meeting.  At our Wednesday session 4 of us started work on clearing the ivy and overgrown paths around the seating area in the far corner of Crescent Garden.

We were also joined by a team from the DWP who gave us a day of their volunteer time last Wednesday, when they planted approximately 3,000 tulip and scilla bulbs in the 4 circular grass beds at the centre of Crescent Garden.  Ivy was also removed from the walls.  Those planting bulbs soon had a system going – some digging holes, others popping the bulbs in and covering them over and they’re all looking forward to returning to the gardens in the Spring to see how their efforts are looking.   We have quite a number of bulbs left – which is why we’re looking for help on the 13th!

We have just 3 volunteer sessions during December:

Tuesday 9th – Garden Maintenance at 10.00am meeting in the far corner of Crescent Garden

Saturday 13th – Litter Picking at 10.30am in Crescent Garden and

Saturday 13th – Bulb Planting in Potters Barn meeting at 2.00pm

All equipment, and refreshments will be provided.

With best wishes for Christmas and the New Year,

Janet Markland

Friends of Waterloo Seafront Gardens

Thank you to everyone who volunteered in the Waterloo Seafront Gardens during October.  There were eleven of us who litter picked in Potters Barn, and seven at each of our three garden maintenance sessions in Crescent and Marine Gardens.  At our Wednesday session we were also joined by a team of five from Graitec UK who gave us a volunteer afternoon and helped us to continue weeding and edging the crazy paving in Marine Garden – see the before and after photos below – one more session and we should have it finished!

We will be holding our 7th Annual General Meeting of Friends of Waterloo Seafront Gardens Charity on Thursday, 13 November 2025, commencing 7.30pm at The Victoria, 27 Bath Street, Waterloo, L22 5PS.

Our volunteer sessions during November will take place on:

Saturday 8th November – 10.30am – Litter Picking in Marine Garden

Tuesday 11th November – 10.00am – Garden Maintenance in Marine Garden

Sunday 16th November – 2.00pm – Garden Maintenance in Beach Lawn

Wednesday 26th November – 1.00pm – Garden Maintenance in Crescent Garden

All equipment will be provided, as well as hot drinks and chocolate flavoured (!) biscuits.

Best wishes,

Janet Markland

Friends of Waterloo Seafront Gardens

September has been another busy month for the Friends of Waterloo Seafront Gardens, although sadly for the first time in 10 years we had to cancel our Autumn Fete.  We’d been keeping a close eye on the weather forecast all week and decided on Friday evening that we couldn’t risk having gazebos/marquees up in the predicted gusty winds for Saturday afternoon.   I think we were all slightly relieved when heavy periods of rain and wind did arrive!!

We were joined by corporate volunteers from the Home Office and BDO (an audit and accounting firm) at 3 garden maintenance sessions, when they worked in Marine Garden on the steps and crazy paving area – they’ve done a fantastic job and some areas of the paving have seen the light of day for the first time in many years! We have included some before and after photos below.  There is still a section to be cleared, so we will tackle that at our October sessions.

At our Sunday maintenance session 8 of our regular volunteers worked in Adelaide Garden, weeding the central round bed and finishing the edging and clearing of the top path.  It’s taken us nearly a year to make our way around the whole of the pathway around Adelaide – our version of the Forth Railway Bridge!

Our volunteer sessions during October will take place on:

Saturday 11th – 10.30am Litter Picking in Potters Barn
Tuesday 14th – 10.00am working on the crazy paving in Marine Garden
Sunday 19th – 2.00pm working on the central bed in Crescent Garden and
Wednesday 22nd – 1.00pm working on the crazy paving in Marine Garden

All equipment will be provided, as well as refreshments at the end of each session.

Hoping to see you in the gardens in October.

Best wishes,

Janet Markland

Friends of Waterloo Seafront Gardens

Thank you to everyone who came along to volunteer in the Waterloo Seafront Gardens during August.  We had 14 at our three garden maintenance sessions and 19 at a very windy litter pick in the children’s play park!

A first for us this month was to be offered the chance, by the Merseyside Civic Society, to have a raised bed display at the Southport Flower Show.  We were sponsored by Magill’s Nursery and didn’t really know what to expect but were pleased with the result – and have lots of ideas now for next year!

Our big event of the year – our Autumn Fete – is due to take place on Saturday 13th September between 12.00 and 4.00pm.  We will have our own plant, book and refreshment stalls and coconut shy, as well as community stalls, children’s activities, bouncy castles and live music from the Happy Tuesdays, a local ukulele group who meet weekly at the Victoria Hotel.

If you’re able to come along and help us set up and take down, or to volunteer at one of our stalls please let us know.

Our volunteer sessions this month will take place on:

Tuesday 9th September at 10.00am in Marine Garden
Saturday 13th September – from 9.30am in Marine Garden
Sunday 21st September at 2.00pm in Adelaide Garden and
Wednesday 24th September at 1.00pm in Adelaide Garden

Looking forward to seeing you during September,

Best wishes,

Janet Markland

Friends of Waterloo Seafront Gardens

Thank you to everyone who joined us in volunteering in the Waterloo Seafront Gardens during July.

There were twelve at our Saturday session when we litter picked and weeded in Adelaide Garden.  Earlier in the year we had replanted the central round bed with some large shrubs and perennials that had been donated to the group, and they are starting to become well established now.

Our gardening sessions were busy in July, with corporate volunteers joining us from the Animal and Plant Health Agency, and Crown Commercial Services at our Tuesday and Wednesday sessions, in addition to 10 and 11 members of our own group.  We continued to work on edging the grass borders of the central area of Crescent Garden and weeding the surrounding pathways.  At our Sunday session we had 7 volunteers and continued to edge the borders of the “top” pathway in Adelaide Garden.

Our litter picking and garden maintenance sessions during August will take place on :

Saturday 9th meeting at 10.30am in the Children’s Play Park
Tuesday 12th meeting at 10.00am in Adelaide Garden
Sunday 17th meeting at 2.00pm in Adelaide Garden and
Wednesday 27th meeting at 1.00pm in Adelaide Garden.

All equipment and refreshments will be provided.  Please come along and join us – every little helps and you don’t need to be a skilled gardener!

This year FoWSG have been invited to have a raised bed display at the Southport Flower Show (14th – 17th August) which we will be setting up with plants donated by our friends at Magills Nursery.

Our Autumn Festival in Marine Garden is taking place on Saturday 13th September.  If you are able to help us in any way (setting up, taking down, raffle prizes, manning a stall etc) please let us know.

Best wishes,

Janet Markland

Friends of Waterloo Seafront Gardens

Thank you to everyone who came along to volunteer in the Waterloo Seafront Gardens in June.

At our Saturday session we had twelve volunteers and we litter picked Crescent Garden, spreading out also into Marine and Adelaide Gardens.  At our Tuesday garden maintenance session we had seven volunteers who continued to weed and mulch the raised bed in Crescent Garden.  We put another five bags of bark on the bed and we hope that this will help keep those weeds at bay.  At our Sunday session six volunteers worked in Adelaide Garden edging more of the footpaths.

At our Wednesday session we were joined by a team from Crown Commercial Services who kindly gave us one of their corporate volunteer days, giving us a total of twelve volunteers for the day. We worked on redefining some of the grass beds in the centre of Crescent Garden.

Our volunteer sessions in July will take place on:

Tuesday 8th July, meeting in Crescent Garden at 10.00am
Saturday 12th July, meeting in Adelaide Garden at 10.30am
Sunday 20th July, meeting in Adelaide Garden at 2.00pm and
Wednesday 23th July, meeting in Crescent Garden at 1.00pm

All equipment will be provided, as well as refreshments!

Best wishes,

Janet Markland

Friends of Waterloo Seafront Gardens

Thank you to everyone who came along to volunteer in the Waterloo Seafront Gardens during May.

At our Saturday session, eleven of us litter picked and weeded the rockery in Marine Garden.  At our three garden maintenance sessions we had 8 volunteers who continued to weed and mulch the raised bed in Crescent Garden, 9 volunteers who worked in Adelaide Garden, weeding the central bed and flower beds on either side of the steps, and 10 volunteers who edged more of the footpaths in Adelaide.

We had a successful Book Sale at the beginning of the month, when we raised nearly £300.  We have used some of this to buy bags of bark mulch for the raised bed in Crescent Garden.

Our volunteer sessions in June will take place on:

Tuesday 10th June, meeting in Crescent Garden at 10.00am
Saturday 14th June, meeting in Crescent Garden at 10.30am
Sunday 15th June, meeting in Adelaide Garden at 2.00pm and
Wednesday 25th June, meeting in Crescent Garden at 1.00pm

All equipment will be provided, as well as refreshments!

Best wishes,

Janet Markland

Friends of Waterloo Seafront Gardens

Thank you to all who have volunteered in the Waterloo Seafront Gardens during April.

We’ve had another busy month, with 13 joining us for Litter Picking in the Children’s Play Park and surrounding area, 7 at both of our weekday garden maintenance sessions, and 11 at our Sunday session.

We have continued to edge around the pathway and benches in Adelaide Garden, and to clear the steps in Crescent Garden.  We also weeded and mulched with bark the centre of the raised bed in Crescent – before the very prickly Rosa Rugosa grow back after pruning!  We’ll continue to work on the rest of the bed this month.

We had a successful book sale yesterday (3^rd May), when we raised £250 and plan to have another one (weather permitting) on Saturday 7th June.  We’re trying to reduce the number of books we have in our storage room, but would be grateful for any donations of children’s books.

Our volunteer sessions in May will take place on the following days:

Saturday 10th May – Litter Picking at 10.30am in Marine Garden
Tuesday 13th May – Garden Maintenance at 10.00am in Crescent Garden
Sunday 18th May – Garden Maintenance at 2.00pm in Adelaide Garden and
Wednesday 28th May – Garden Maintenance at 1.00pm in Adelaide Garden

Best wishes,

Janet Markland
Friends of Waterloo Seafront Gardens