Christmas Concert

Sunday, 8 December in the Holland Park Orangery, 7.00pm.

Bookings are already coming in, so don’t delay and make sure you get your tickets for our very special Christmas Concert. 

Once again, we will be entertained by Douglas Somers-Lee and his Ariel Consort of London. Douglas has sung in The Friends’ Christmas concert for many years, he knows just what we like and is busy working on an exciting programme for our very special end of year event. There will be many familiar faces in the choir. We can be sure of joyous voices ringing out in the beautiful Orangery, readings to interest and amuse you, and some carols for all to sing.

We think our Christmas Concert is different to the others and of course we think it is better. It seems you do too, as it is always so popular. If you haven’t been to this event for a while, or indeed if you are a regular, we can promise you a highly enjoyable evening.  Do book your tickets, now! 

After the concert, we will be treated to tasty canapés and a glass or two of wine. Tickets, at £27, can be ordered online HERE.

Please note that this year’s concert starts at 7.00pm, earlier than in previous years. 

[November 2024]

Christmas cards and Christmas presents

Last minute small presents are often a challenge when you visit friends and family over the festive season. So why not have a look at what The Friends have for sale. There are two designs of cotton tea towel; one showing paintings of some of the flowers that grow wild in Holland Park and the other with paintings of autumn fruits in the park. The greetings cards ‘Holland House through the trees’ make an excellent gift, as does the handy jute shopper decorated with a tree motif.

This year’s Christmas card is a view of the ‘new’ Stable Yard in Holland Park, as it looks today, the old stables having been pulled down in 1812. The card is painted by Terry McKivragan, who painted many of the earlier Holland Park cards. You can also see a Christmas card depicting the Holland Park Café with the splendid view of Jacobean Holland House beyond.

The standard greeting on all Christmas cards is “With best wishes for Christmas and the New Year”, but you can choose to ask for them blank.

We hold a supply of these cards, with greetings, in three options:
• Standard, 152 mm x 197 mm format at £7.00 for five. 
• Smaller, 118 mm x 168 mm at £12.00 for ten.  
• Mixed packs of ten designs of Holland Park from past years, at £6.50. These will be mostly the larger size and in three or four different designs.  

In addition, there is a range of other Holland Park cards, which you can find on Mountbatten’s website, mountbattencards.com .

Both cards are available to buy from the Park Reception Office in the Stable Yard and from our website. Click HERE to buy cards online and HERE for merchandise. 

The local retailers in our Friends & Neighbours discount scheme offer lots of ideas for presents: stylish gifts from The Design Museum shop, presents for the home from Lipp, plants and flowers from Rassell’s, and picture framing from Gallery 19.  The Kensington Health Club and Spa offers beauty treatments as does Threads. Or enjoy some holiday cheer at one of the restaurants and cafés in our scheme. The Holland Park Café has mulled wine and hot soup to warm you on your visit to the park, all offered with a 15% discount for members of The Friends. 

The participants in our programme support us with a special price for our members, and we should support them. A full list of our participating Neighbours, and discounts they offer, is on the Friends’ website.

Rhoddy Wood

[November 2024]

Subscription renewals and membership cards

Thank you again for all your support and we hope you will want to continue to help through these troublesome times, when the park is more appreciated than ever, but also has had extra strains put upon it.  Your membership gives The Friends clout when negotiating with the Borough on the park’s future.

Large charities with offices and paid staff usually have members’ subscriptions running for a year from the anniversary of their joining.  The Friends’ admin is done by volunteers working from home in their own time and on their own machines.  There is a limit to what we can ask and therefore, like most similarly-sized charities, our membership year is the calendar year, 1 January to 31 December.  This makes it much easier to know who is up to date with their subscriptions.  It also saves money and work, by enabling general requests to be made in the newsletters.  To compensate those who join after 1 September, they get the rest of that year plus all the following year included. So some of you have already paid for 2025 and a healthy number (about 60%) pay by bank standing order on 1 January.  

New members, who have joined since 1 September 2024, or existing members who have renewed since that date, are already covered for 2025.

To the rest of you, i.e. those who last paid before 1 September 2024, now is the time to pay, using the order form enclosed with the Winter newsletter, or on our website, click HERE, or by contacting your bank. 

If in doubt, check with Graham Franklin 07802 761 548 or ggfranklin3@aol.com. We would like to emphasise that it is less trouble to both you and us if you pay by standing order. If you do not yet do so, the most reliable way is to contact your bank by your usual method, whether that is by telephone, letter, banking app or walk in.  (We can supply forms and send them to your bank for you but these are not always fulfilled.) Our bank details are Account No. 60636975, Sort Code 20-47-34 Barclays Bank, Kensington.  You will find the amount of your subscription online HERE.
 
You will know that your membership discount card, which entitles you to discounts under our Friends & Neighbours scheme, expires on 15 March 2025. Those who have paid their subscriptions for 2025 will receive a replacement card with their spring newsletter, which will reach them about 1 March. Please be careful opening your newsletter, as the cards can easily fall out and be lost.

Rhoddy Wood 

[November 2024]

News update as at 4 November '24

Rare tree
Photo: Styphnolobium japonicum violacea flower. Internet
In our autumn issue, we wrote about our rare Styphnolobium japonicum ‘violacea’, saying we had not been accorded Champion Tree status as that title was held by a tree in Cannizaro Park. An interested member of The Friends took the trouble to check and found that the Cannizaro tree is now a dead stump. David Alderman, the Hon Director of the Tree Register of Britain and Ireland, visited our tree and agrees it can now be considered a Champion. 

Open-air gym
Photo: Site poster during works.  Jennie Kettlewell 
Refurbishment is well under way, but was temporarily delayed for a very good reason. When it was found that the concrete bases for the equipment would affect the roots of the big London Planes in the area, the layout was re-planned to avoid the problem. The trees were given a helping hand with aeration of the roots and surface mulching. A large beech tree was found to have fungus at its base and is now being checked out by RBKC tree officers. By the time you read this, the gym should be open again. If you haven’t tried the equipment yet, do visit the new gym and have a go.

Fukushima Garden
Photo: Signing ceremony in the Town Hall.  Credit RBKC
Following the celebration held to mark the friendship between Motomiya City and the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, The Friends were delighted to receive a letter from the Mayor of Motomiya City, Mr Gigyo Takamatsu, thanking us for attending the event. This letter included the words:  ‘Please allow me to convey my utmost gratitude for your attendance at the Culture Exchange Event in the Fukushima Garden earlier this month. I was so very pleased to be able to celebrate our Friendship Declaration with the Friends of Holland Park at the Fukushima Garden – itself, a symbol of our city’s bond with the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea.’  We have thanked the Mayor and said we feel honoured to have received his letter.
 
A chequered spring
Photo: chequerboard design of plants.  Jennie Kettlewell
There have been many positive comments about the hard work done by the idverde team as they planted out some tens of thousands of spring bulbs and Forget-me-not plants in the Dutch Garden.

The four beds surrounding the Armillary Sphere look very green, being full of Festuca glauca and still more Forget-me-nots. But the design is clever. Look closely and you will see the beds have been divided into chequerboard squares. The bulbs planted in the squares alternate ‘black’ and white tulips, with 2,000 bulbs in each of the four beds. They will look a fine sight when they bloom in spring and will mirror the chessboard just over the hedge.

Natural Flood Management
We had been given to understand that work would be done in winter 2024 and spring 2025 to reduce uncontrolled water runs in Holland Park during heavy rainfall. As yet we have no update on when this will start and which paths will be closed. We hope to be able to update you around the end of November in an email version of the News Update.

Jennie Kettlewell 

[November 2024]

We need a volunteer to run events

As you will know, The Friends run many events in the park each year and we are looking for someone to help organize some of these events. If you enjoy working as part of a team, have an eye for detail and would like to volunteer to run events, please get in touch with Jennie Kettlewell on 020 7243 0804, or jennie.kettlewell@thefriendsofhollandpark.org

[November 2024]

Festive event in Holland Park

On Saturday 30 November The Friends will run a festive pop-up stall in Holland Park’s Café Yard. We will be there to catch up with members and other visitors to the park, and will have Christmas cards for sale, as well as tea towels printed with pretty paintings of either wild flowers, or autumn berries. There is a jute shopper with a tree design, and note cards. All of these make lovely Christmas gifts. The Holland Park Café will offer tasty treats with a festive theme, all as part of The Friends’ stall. 

If their duties allow, two of the Met police horse division will visit us on horseback. There will be carrots available for children to feed to the horses, provided adults check first with the police riders. There will also be Polo mints to feed to the horses, not to the police, who prefer coffee. Did you know horses like Polos?

Rassell’s has promised a festive fir tree, which will become our ‘wishing tree’.  Some people are less fortunate and do not have a friend or relative to wish them well over the festive season. Any visitor to our stall can write a best wishes message on the coloured labels provided and tie it onto the tree.  Once it is decorated with best wishes labels, the tree will be donated to a local charity. 

Come and say ‘hello’.  We will be at the stall from 10am to 3.00pm.

Photo by Jennie Kettlewell

[November 2024]

Dates for your Diary – events in Holland Park

The events listed below are either organised by The Friends (F), or organized by the Ecology Service (ES), most of which are sponsored by The Friends.

Sat. 2 Nov.  Bird Walk. Free to attend. No need to book.  Meet in Café yard. No dogs please.  F 9-10.30am  
Sun. 8 Dec.  Christmas Concert performed in the Holland Park Orangery by the Ariel Consort of London. £27. Book online HERE.   F  7.00pm

The Ecology Service (ES) events can be booked on Eventbrite.  

The Friends’ (F) Blue Badge tours can be booked online HERE or by contacting Jennie Kettlewell on 020 7243 0804/jennie.kettlewell@thefriendsofhollandpark.org.  Unless otherwise instructed when you book, meet by The Friends’ notice board in the Café Yard.

Holland Park Conservation Volunteers (adults) meet on the third Saturday of each month from 10.30am to 3.30 pm. Tasks focus on practical conservation that helps deliver the Ecology Service management plan and might include dead-hedging, scything, pond clearing and maintaining the paths in the Wildlife Enclosure. If you want to join, or find out more, please email Gerry Kelsey, idverde’s Training and Community Manager, at Gerald.Kelsey@idverde.co.uk. 

(November 2024)

Christmas Concert

Sunday, 8 December in the Holland Park Orangery. 7.00pm.

We are delighted that Douglas Somers-Lee will entertain us with his Ariel Consort of London once again. Douglas has sung in The Friends’ Christmas concert for many years, with the Tallis Chamber Choir, so he knows us well and knows just what we like for our very special end of year event. There will be many familiar faces in the choir. 

Trustee, Nigel Brockmann, is in contact with Douglas and we will update you about the programme at the end of November. One thing we can be sure of is the joyous voices of the choir ringing out in the beautiful Orangery, readings to interest and amuse you, and some carols for all to sing.

After last year’s concert, one of you said: "I haven't been to The Friends' Christmas Concert for ten years. I now wonder why, as it is certainly better than the others. I shall come again next year.” So, if you haven’t been to this event for a while, or indeed if you are a regular, we can promise you a highly enjoyable evening.  Do put the date in your diary.

After the concert, we will be treated to tasty canapés and a glass or two of wine. Tickets, at £27, can be ordered online HERE .

Please note that this year’s concert starts at 7.00pm, earlier than in previous years. 

(September 2024)

Discount at Holland Park Café

Daisy Green have been running the Holland Park Café since May. They are a community-focused business and are working hard to understand the quirks of Holland Park and its regulars.

Some of our members have expressed disappointment that they couldn’t just drop in for a coffee as they had been accustomed to do, but this was a misunderstanding. You can!  The misunderstanding was due to the rather formal look of the Café which had the tables set out with knives and forks for a meal. We notice that this is no longer the case for most tables and the Café looks more welcoming for it. Daisy Green will need the regulars when it comes to the quieter winter months. 

Table service inside the Café and on the terrace means tables are cleared and cleaned quickly and we notice that pigeons are much less in evidence. If you prefer, you can go to the counter and order a coffee and sandwich to go. The kiosk opens at 12 noon.  

Daisy Green have joined the Friends & Neighbours programme, so that paid-up members of The Friends are entitled to a 15% discount on all purchases in the Café, when you show your membership card on ordering. 

Some regular groups have been used to pushing tables together for easier socialising. If you wish to do that, just ask the on-duty Café staff, or ask the manager in advance.  

If you haven’t already been to the new Café, come and try it out, bring your friends and claim your members’ discount.

Text & photo by Jennie Kettlewell

[September 2024]

News update as at 31 August 2024

Treatment of sports field trees 

In November 2021, four Kentucky Coffee trees and four SouthernNettle trees were planted at the north end of the sports field, to replace the row of failed Red Horse Chestnut trees. Bartletts Tree Experts did the planting and have checked up on them several times since then. All are growing into handsome straight trees, but the Southern Nettles have looked a little peaky of late, with their leaves mottled with unhealthy yellow. Bartletts came to inspect these trees on 16 August, told us it looked like nutrient deficiency and treated them appropriately. They took samples of the leaves and the soil for analysis. Let’s hope that does the trick, but it was found that the surrounding soil was parched and the trees badly needed watering.  We’ve called on help from idverde.

Open-air gym
By the time you read this, work to refurbish the Holland Park open-air gym, at the extreme south west of the sports field, will be well under way. The facility has been extremely popular and the equipment was coming to the end of its life. The same applied to the golf practice area. The council held well-publicised on-site meetings in autumn 2023 to hear the views of those who use the gym and there was an on-line questionnaire. The improvements are expected to be completed in early October. If you haven’t tried the equipment yet, do visit the new gym and have a go.

Master classes from the Japanese gardeners

At the end of June, expert Japanese gardeners made a visit to Holland Park’s Kyoto Garden to work with Parks Management and idverde. The home team benefitted from master classes on pruning in the Japanese way. Not only must a tree or shrub be a beautiful shape, but it must leave a pleasing shadow on he ground. That is art!

History display in Café

For quite a few years, The Friends have offered to create an information panel describing the history of Holland House, designed to go on the long brick wall inside the café. There is virtually nothing to tell park visitors the significance of Holland House and its story. At last, Daisy Green agreed to the proposal and the panels are now in place. They are designed to whet the appetite with pictures, and offer a link to finding out further information. Permission had to be sought for each of the illustrations to be included and credits agreed. Designed by Column Communications, who created the Kyoto and Holland House signs and The Friends’ guides to the park, the panels are slightly smaller than expected, because a notice board will fill the space immediately to the right. We hope you enjoy the new information panels. 

Jennie Kettlewell

Photos by Jennie Kettlewell and RBKC

[September 2024]

Our Parks Police

The work of the Parks Police team is much appreciated and their familiar faces reassure us as they patrol the paths, fields, enclosures and buildings of Holland Park. Two of the most well-known police constables retired this August and we shall miss them. Pc Phil Crowther spent 15 years with the force and pc Dave Pullan worked in the team for 12 years. The Friends have wished them well in their retirement.

Fortunately, three new police constables have joined the team. Pc Warren Cummings arrived in April this year, while pc David Lane and pc Jeff Cresswell are more recent arrivals. The Parks Police work in two teams, one headed up by Sergeant Helen Tilbury and the other by Sergeant Arron Haynes. One or other of the two teams is on duty during daylight hours, with some late evening patrols, 365 days of the year. In a three-shift day, they enforce bye-laws, Dog Control Orders, deal with traffic issues, respond to accidents in the park, find missing people and deal with more cases of anti-social behaviour than you might imagine. 

Though based in Holland Park, the Parks Police cover around 40 parks and four cemeteries in the Borough, so they are obviously extremely busy. The reason you might not be aware of all this activity is that they take a preventative approach and aim to solve each problem before it escalates. They strongly believe that a problem-solving approach is the most effective way of reducing crime and anti-social behaviour, so they work with local communities and park users to identify concerns and find solutions. In addition, they can be called to help out with events such as the Notting Hill Carnival, cycle coding, Remembrance parades and to provide assistance to the emergency services during major incidents. 

The Parks Police are dedicated to ensuring that the Borough’s parks are safe and welcoming places for everyone, but they cannot be everywhere in the park at once, so they urge that we call the Parks Police number (see below) when their assistance is needed. In my experience, they are quick to act and do so firmly but with tact. They can only help us if we help them to do so.

Jennie Kettlewell

Photo: RBKC

Parks Police 
Holland Park is generally a safe place, but we should never be complacent. If you see any antisocial behaviour, such as vandalism, please contact the Parks Police on:
 0300 3655 101
 Remember three key points:
 • Keep yourself out of danger
 • Take a description of the person, location and exactly what         they are doing
 • Contact the Parks Police and report the facts.

[September 2024]_

Christmas Cards

This year’s Christmas card is a view of the ‘new’ Stable Yard in Holland Park, as it now looks. The ‘old’ stable yard was on the site of what is now the formal garden and the old stables were to the west where you can now see the brick arches and the Belvedere Restaurant. The current stable yard was built in 1812. The card is by Terry McKivragan, who painted many of the earlier Holland Park cards. The café card shows the view after the hard land-scaping was updated, but before the recent introduction of umbrellas.

The standard greeting on all Christmas cards is “With best wishes for Christmas and the New Year”, but you can choose to ask for them blank.

We hold a supply of these cards, with greetings, in three options:
• Standard, 152 mm x 197 mm format at £7.00 for five. 
• Smaller, 118 mm x 168 mm at £12.00 for ten.  
• Mixed packs of ten designs of Holland Park from past years, at £6.50. These will be mostly the larger size and in three or four different designs.  

In addition, there is a range of other Holland Park cards, which you can find on Mountbatten’s website, mountbattencards.com .

They will be available from 1 November, but please order as soon as possible so that the publisher can estimate in advance how many to print.  We will keep some in stock, but delivery gets slower when more have to be printed, especially towards the end of the season.

If your newsletter is hand delivered (no stamp,) our delivery of Christmas cards is free. If your newsletter is delivered by post, we have to charge an additional £2.10 per ten cards, or a single pack of five large. Please note that sending the order to The Friends, instead of direct to Mountbatten, gets the Friends an extra discount, unless overprinting is required.  If you do order direct, please remember to say which charity you would like Mountbatten to make a donation to; naturally we would hope it was The Friends, but you are free to choose any charity.

To order online, please click HERE.

Rhoddy Wood

[September 2024]

Congratulations!

Two gardeners from the idverde team, Sheku Maringa and Canice Osuagwu, have succeeded in completing their City and Guilds level 2 Award in Horticulture. The course was delivered in-house at Holland Park by Gerry Kelsey, idverde’s  Community & Training Manager, and focused on plant identification and propagation, with emphasis on plants found in Holland Park. You will probably recognise both Canice and Sheku. Canice is one of the team who care for the Kyoto and Fukushima Gardens. Sheku works at weekends, undertaking many tasks and can often be seen in the Kyoto Garden, making sure visitors treat it with respect. 

Monica Castelino, RBKC Parks Manager, said: “It is really encouraging to see more of the team sign up to gain horticultural qualifications and, more importantly, enjoy and excel in their training. Well done Sheku and Canice , and well done Gerry.”   

The Friends send their congratulations and wish them a successful future with the new qualification.

Photos by RBKC

[September 2024]

Green Flag Award

It's great news that Holland Park has won the award yet again after over 20 years of success. The judges looked attentively at everything, from hedges to habitats, and from litterbins to loos. They asked lots of questions and clearly understood the complexity of our park.     

All the hard work paid off and Holland Park has a Green Flag once again.

It’s tough to win this prestigious award as there are eight criteria for the judges to assess, so it is not only about stunning flower displays, but includes subjects like absence of litter, clear information displays, biodiversity, conservation of buildings and implementation of a management plan. That means there are a great many people in the RBKC Parks Management and idverde teams whose work in the park contributed to the award. RBKC Park Officers, Hassan Elkholy and Bulent Kazim were responsible for hosting the judges and putting together the visit programme. 

Thank you to Parks Management, the Ecology Service, the Parks Police, the idverde gardeners, maintenance team and the front-line staff in the park reception office. 

Photo by RBKC.

[September 2024]

Holland House conservation listed for award

The conservation work on Holland House was carried out over 2021/22 and involved Allies & Morrison, architects with special expertise in conservation, and Boras Construction who implemented the work. Allies & Morrison have already been accorded a Civic Trust Regional Finalist award for their work on Holland House and have now been shortlisted for a further recognition by New London Awards, under the conservation category. There is strong competition, but you can do your bit by voting for the People’s Choice Award. Go to the website: nla.london/awards/new-london-awards and cast your vote, but please do so under your own name and not as The Friends of Holland Park.

Photo by  Ståle Eriksen

[September 2024]

Summer party in the park 

Eventually the spring will come. And then the summer. Let’s hope we get a fine summer evening to celebrate our Friends’ party in the park.  The date is Wed. 3 July. The time is 6-8pm and the place is the marquee at the east end of the Dutch Garden. Access is from the Dutch Garden only.

There will be refreshing Pimm’s fruit cup, tasty canapés and good company, all with the lovely view of the Dutch Garden summer planting. We are most grateful to James Clutton, CEO of Opera Holland Park, for allowing us once again to borrow their marquee on the raised terrace to the east of the Dutch Garden. Come rain or shine, we will be protected from anything the weather will throw at us. 

This is the one event of our year that is only open to Friends and their immediate guests, but not the general public. Do come and celebrate with us!   The car park is free after 6.30pm. Please do book early, as we need to plan the catering.

Tickets, at £25 each, can be booked online HERE.

[May 2024]

Phillip Fei Hou – new trustee

We are delighted that Phillip Fei Hou has agreed to become a trustee of The Friends.

He joined The Friends after spotting a plea for volunteers and soon became a regular at the pop-up events in the park. He readily engaged park visitors and got them interested in what we do. Every so often, the trustees have got stuck trying to do something, and Phillip said ‘Oh I can help with that’. And he did. Most were tech solutions where he could coax data into something useful.   

The reason he can do all this is that he holds a BSc in Physics and another in Software Engineering. He taught physics and enjoyed nurturing young minds with a passion for science, before transferring to work in the software industry. Next, he ventured into life as an entrepreneur, running his own business for over 30 years. So he has technical skills and business skills, gained from software development, tech consulting, the restaurant industry, digital publishing and property investment. That translates into a lot of very useful support for The Friends, and the trustees decided they would like him to join the committee.

Phillip and his wife live not far from the park and know it well. He is a team player and we enjoy his company, as we all do our best to run The Friends as successfully as we can. There’s one other thing: Phillip’s dog has been taught by him to be exceedingly polite and well-behaved, so he hasn’t forgotten his teaching skills!

Welcome Phillip. The trustees look forward to working with you. 

[May 2024]

News update as at 2 May 2024

Bolle’s poplar

Many of you will have noticed the loss of the very big tree just inside the Ilchester Gates, a Bolle’s poplar. Sadly, it was badly diseased and unsafe with so many people walking underneath it. Bartletts tree experts warned some years ago that it was one to keep an eye on. When the RBKC Arboricultural team checked it in 2020 they found fungus at the base. At that stage it was crown reduced to remove weight from the top so that it could be kept  a little longer. In March 2024 a further Picus test showed extensive decay at the base. It had to go. The decay was caused by Ganoderma bracket fungus which eats slowly but relentlessly into the tree.  Picus is a non-invasive way of determining the extent of decay inside a tree and it works by taking readings of soundwaves passing through the trunk and measuring the density. This can reveal damage in an otherwise healthy-looking tree.

Photo by RBKC

Water Management in Holland Park

For a long time, there has been discussion about managing torrential rain which causes small rivers running through the park, taking soil with it and gouging out troughs in the woodland paths. The water pools where we don’t want it, the north lawn becomes a quagmire and too much water channels out of the park and into the sewerage system. The new flood management officer in the town hall understands how to manage water in parks and is developing a proposal, with Parks Management, to absorb rainwater near where it falls and channelling surplus to where it can be used. The Friends have been consulted and support the concept. We will bring you further news when it is available.

Marouflages

The story continues. Alvar Mailan from Richard Rogers Conservation has painstakingly removed panels 1&2 of the paintings under the arcade by the Iris Garden. The panels are now back at RRC’s studios where the canvas backing is being repaired following discovery of mould. We await news of the next development and of when it will be possible for artist, Mao Wen Biao, to retouch the surfaces of these two panels. After nearly two years, we still await to hear when the Council will do the work to prevent water ingress from the walkway above.  

Jennie Kettlewell

Photo by Gilead Limor

[May 2024]

New café in Holland Park

By the time you read this, you may have had a chance to visit the Holland Park Café under its new ownership. Daisy Green Foods signed the lease in late April and has wasted no time in getting the café up and running, even if not with its full offering just yet. The new name is still to be decided.

Daisy Green is a family business, run by Prue Freeman and her husband Tom Onions. Founded in 2012, they have grown the business and now have a mix of cafés and restaurants across London, with each venue individually designed to fit its local environment and community. They live near Holland Park, which means they know the park well and can tailor our café to what park visitors really want.

The main point of a café is to offer really good coffee at a fair price and that is something on which the owners pride themselves. To go with the coffee there will be a choice of cakes and pastries. There are light dishes on the menu, made with responsibly-sourced fresh ingredients in a Mediterranean style, with accents of Asian flavours. That means plenty of choice, whether you want a quick coffee, a meal, or one of Daisy Green’s special breakfasts.

The long-awaited changes to the service area will be made, once agreed, so that the frustrating queues at busy periods are a thing of the past. No doubt the interior will be freshened up, while respecting the nature of the listed buildings in our park. Table service will be a new feature, which will be a benefit in that the tables will be clean, and it will also help reduce the queues. That doesn’t mean you can’t go to the counter and buy a coffee and sandwich to go.

Many of our members have asked if the café staff, under the management of Ade Phillips, will still greet us in the café. We are delighted to tell you that they will.

We understand the opening hours will be 7.30am to half an hour before dusk, when the park closes.  A limited number of appropriate evening events may take place, with the agreement of Parks Management. It is good news that Daisy Green is community-focused, both in terms of relationships and in terms of donating to local charities. They operate an environmentally friendly business, and encourage keep cups. 

At this point we would like to say a big thank you to Cooks and Partners, who have run the café for the past 17 years and who have co-operated, on so many occasions, with The Friends.

The Holland Park Café has always been a welcome meeting point for local residents and all park visitors, and Prue Freeman intends to keep it that way. So, drop in and sample the new coffee, snacks and meals, and bring your friends. We very much look forward to working with the new owners and to supporting their successful business.

Photo from Daisy Green

Jennie Kettlewell

[May 2024]

Matthew Rose wins award

The Ecology Centre is proud to announce that Matthew Rose, one of their Education Team, has been awarded the 2024 Robert J. Jones Award in Environmental Education by the Educator’s Trust, the charitable arm of the Worshipful Company of Educators.

This national award, is given to an outstanding practitioner in environmental education. Matthew was nominated by Dr Melissa Glackin and Shirin Hine of Kings’ College London, having worked with them in support of an Environmental Education Masters course, PhD research and the publication of the Heartwood collection of essays. In the award citation, Matthew was described as ‘an exceptional, knowledgeable and professional environmental educator, who has offered his community an inspirational personable service, provided with care and humility’. The Friends agree with that and send congratulations to Matthew. 

Photo from Max Weaver

[May 2024]

Peter Barrett saves the day

Technical problems with Mailchimp can be challenging and we got thwarted with a mailing one weekend in March. It was thanks to Peter Barrett of Rapidpage, who manage The Friends’ website, that it was sorted out. In spite of being unfamiliar with Mailchimp, having no responsibility for our account, and it being a weekend, he worked out what changes were needed and gave us the all clear. Should the problem recur, we now have instructions to deal with it. Thank you Peter.

[May 2024]

Michael Volpe’s new book

Former General Director of Holland Park Opera, Michael Volpe, is remembered by many opera-loving Friends. On 29 April, he was back in Holland Park for the launch of his second book ‘Do I bark like a Dog?’ The launch was at Daunts Bookshop, Holland Park Avenue, where his family and friends joined the celebration. The book tells the story of his Italian roots and is a testimony to his mother and her family. Many extra-ordinary events took him from his childhood in Fulham to a life in opera where he has been a significant influence, being awarded an OBE for services to opera. 

[May 2024]

Guided tours of Holland Park

The history of the buildings, people, sculptures, statues, art and the gardens.  
Expert Blue Badge Guides will entertain you with fascinating stories about the long history of Holland Park and what went on there.– scandals and all. 

Sat 18 May. 2.30-4pm. History of the Holland Park gardens and
              grounds.  Guide Leila Sukiur.  

Book a ticket online HERE or contact Jennie Kettlewell on jennie.kettlewell@thefriendsofhollandpark.org or call 020 7243 0804.  

£10.00 per person. Meeting point will be on the ticket.

[January 2024]

Summer party in the park

Wednesday, 3 July 2024, 6-8pm in the marquee, east of the Dutch Garden.

Save the date in your diary and we will give more information via email, on our park noticeboards and on our website, saying when and how you can book. The party is for members of The Friends only, though members are welcome to buy a ticket for a guest. It is the perfect place for a summer party, as the marquee offers a fine view of the seasonal planting in the formal garden and gives shelter from the sun, if we are lucky, and the rain if we are not. 

Text & photo Jennie Kettlewell

[February 2024]

Data Protection Privacy Statement, 
including Key Procedures for Friends of Holland Park
Charity no 281348

Aims of this policy
The Friends of Holland Park (FHP) needs to keep certain information about its members in order to distribute its quarterly newsletter and to contact members about events and other matters concerning The Friends. 

The charity is committed to ensuring any personal data will be dealt with in line with the Data Protection Act 1998, as amended 2003 and the General Data Protection Law, to become operative from May 2018.

To comply with the law, personal information will be collected and used fairly, stored safely and not disclosed to any other person unlawfully. 

This document highlights key data protection procedures within the organisation. The aim of these procedures is to ensure that everyone handling personal data is fully aware of the requirements and acts in accordance with data protection law.

This Privacy Statement defines the trustees and any other persons using data connected with the business of the charity. 

The type of personal data we hold
 Contact details of members, who have completed a membership application form. Needed for distribution of newsletter.
Contact details of council officers and elected members for the day-to-day running of the charity. These can be identified by the sortable database code.
Contact details of suppliers.
Contact details of those members who have agreed to hand deliver the newsletter and the areas in which they deliver. Needed to produce delivery schedules.
Each entry shows whether or not a member is registered for Gift Aid, so that we can make an annual return to HMRC.

Who holds the data?
The Secretary is the controller of the database. Other FHP Trustees who may process personal information are: 
The Chairman
The Treasurer and Assistant Treasurer
The Events Organiser.
The information is not shared with other parties, with the exception of the Independent Examiner and HMRC in the case of Gift Aid data.
Names and addresses, in hard copy form, are given to newsletter deliverers so they can hand deliver to the correct address. 

Personal information is kept in the following forms: 
Paper details kept by the Treasurer, Secretary and Chairman, securely filed. 
Digital database of members kept by the Secretary and circulated, in encrypted form, to the Treasurer, Assistant Treasurer, Chairman, and Events Organiser as necessary. 
Digital Gift Aid records kept by the Treasurer and sent to Independent Examiner, in encrypted form, for filing with HMRC. 
Digital records from Paypal account showing receipts. 

Security of data
Each trustee that holds member data has confirmed in writing that their systems are secure:
All computers are password protected with a secure password
All emailed records are encrypted.

Deletion of data
The Friends of Holland Park Bank statements and Gift Aid reports are kept for reference and are regularly referred to.
The current member database, used for newsletter distribution, is cleaned every September. Members who have not paid the current years subscription are left on the database until 31 December and then removed, as they are no longer deemed to be members.
Previous member databases are a useful source of reference and are regularly referred to e.g. when they claim their membership has only recently lapsed. These databases are retained for seven years but for reference only and not for contact.
Analysis of payments by cheque and cash are kept for seven years.

Right to access data
Each member has the right to see a copy of the data held about them and the right to correct it if it is found to be incorrect. Contact The Secretary at: rhoddy.wood@thefriendsofhollandpark.org.

Risk Assessment
The trustees of The Friends of Holland Park operate a Risk Assessment process which is reviewed annually. In the unlikely event of a break of data protection, the process would be to:
Inform the Information Commissioners Office (ICO) 
Inform those whose data has been compromised

Amend the process which has caused the breach.

24 May 2018