Dear Potential Friend,

Sibirica As a local resident, I am sure you visit Holland Park and appreciate its natural beauty and facilities. You may not, perhaps, realise just how delicate and fragile this lovely Park is. If you wish to see this beautiful amenity preserved, wouldn’t you like to join us?

Formed in 1978, The Friends of Holland Park, a registered charity, has almost 1,000 members with a distinguished President and an active and knowledgeable volunteer committee. We are represented on the Advisory Group, which The Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea consults over its responsibilities for the Park. We also have a meeting every two months with the officers responsible for its daily management. This gives us the ideal opportunity to work with the Borough on its management strategy.

We work to protect and preserve the Park as an oasis of tranquillity, natural beauty and recreation, guarding its unique character, monitoring planning applications and proposed changes in and around the Park. We also make donations for the benefit of the Park with the money we raise through subscriptions, donations and profits from social events run for the pleasure of our members. These include a monthly bird walk, tree walks, concerts, carol concerts, an annual art exhibition in the Orangery, summer parties, talks etc. A 12-page quarterly newsletter and our own website keep members informed about what is going on and invite comments.

In recent years we have conserved and illuminated the beautiful ceramic tiles adjacent to the cafeteria. We have also persuaded The Royal Borough to conserve what remains of Holland House and we believe the forecourt to the House will soon be landscaped and open to the public outside the opera season. We contributed substantially to a new irrigation system throughout the Park to prevent loss of trees, shrubs and plants from drought. We presented the two circular tree benches adjacent to the Kensington High Street entrance, which are almost always occupied. A new booklet on the notable trees of Holland Park was published recently. Over the years our gifts to the Park have included the bronze figure of Milo of Croton in the formal garden; Sibirica, the fountain in the iris garden; replacing the unsafe poplars beside the playing fields with red oaks and the aedicule oak bench in the formal garden. The official guidebook, the murals in the Arcade, the armillary sphere sundial in the formal garden, thousands of pounds worth of trees, shrubs and plants, bird boxes, peacocks and peahens, koi carp, equipment for the Ecology Centre - the list goes on - and these are all past gifts to the Park from the Friends.

Our subscription is just £12.00 (senior citizens £9.00), payable on 1st January each year, but subscriptions from 1st September include the next year. Donations are always welcome. Please do join us and lend your support to protect and maintain this lovely and fragile Park

Nicholas Hopkins

Chairman