Notices

FoSJP has become a registered Charity!

Great News from the Friends of St. James Park!

Friends of St James Park has now been registered with the Charity Commission for England and Wales as a charitable incorporated organisation with voting members other than its trustees.

We will continue to function as previously with all our supporters but there will no longer be a membership fee. An important change, however, is that, as a registered charity, we will now be eligible to apply for many more grants and funding which will enable us to continue with our existing work and to offer more to the local community.

We look forward to your continuing support and please get in touch if you would like to become more involved with the charity!

April 26, 2018 in FOSJP Notice

Tis The Season To Be Jolly

Best Wishes for the Festive Season from FoSJP!
As another busy year for FoSJP and St.James’ Park draws to a close, it’s almost time for a well‑earned rest over the festive season. Look out for news of more happenings in and around the Park in the New Year.

December 22, 2017 in FOSJP Notice

Awards

  • Won the Southampton Green Open Spaces Award 2006 (September 2006).
  • Won the Outstanding Park Event 2007 award for Park100 (October 2007).
  • Received a Certificate of Congratulation from the Mayor of Southampton, in recognition of achieving the Heritage Lottery Fund grant (November 2009).
  • Website shortlisted in two categories for 7th Hantsweb Awards (January 2010).
  • Took second place at Southampton City Council’s Green Spaces event (November 2010).
  • Won first prize in the Hampshire and Isle of Wight section of the South East Community Empowerment Awards 2010 (November 2010).
  • St.James’ Park has been awarded the prestigious Green Flag Award five times (July 2012, July 2014, July 2015, July 2016, July 2017).
  • St.James’ Park was a nominated finalist in the National Lottery Awards 2013, making it through to the top seven projects in the Environment category.
Visit our Awards page for more details and pictures of these awards.
August 1, 2017 in FoSJP's Achievements

Funding

  • Won a grant from BBC Breathing Places to put towards encouraging native flora and fauna in the Park (2007).
  • Submitted a pre-application to the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF), and used the HLF-provided funds provided to employ Parklife to put together a bid for full HLF funding (May 2008).
  • Won backing from the Parks for People scheme backed by the Heritage Lottery Fund, with an initial award of £64,500 to further develop plans for an improvement scheme totalling £1.5 million (October 2008).
  • Won a grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund of £1.1 million, plus a ring-fenced £400,000 fromSouthampton City Council, making a total of £1.5 million to make significant improvements to the Park and its facilities (October 2009).
  • Won a grant of £1000 from Sport Relief to buy sporting equipment for borrowing from the ParkLife Community Café after completion of the restoration and improvement works in the Park (May 2010).
  • Container port operator DP World Southampton very kindly donated £20,000 to help fit out a commercial catering kitchen for the ParkLife Community Café (July 2010); this was augmented by £2500 from the Development Trusts Association (now part of Locality).
  • Won a grant of £39,000 over 3 years from Lankelly Chase to pay for a 3‑year project to help local residents participate in a variety of activities in the Park.
  • Was awarded £1000 of Sport Relief funding from the Hampshire and Isle of Wight Community Foundation to start up a youth group for local young people with autism (May 2014), and was awarded further Comic Relief funding, also through the Hampshire and Isle of Wight Community Foundation, to allow the group to continue operation for another year (December 2014).
December 13, 2014 in FoSJP's Achievements

History

  • Hosted historically-themed walks, talks, and historical dramatic performances in and around the Park.
  • Organised a History Exhibition in Shirley Parish Hall (May 2009).
  • Started the Shirley Heritage Project, with HLF funding, to record oral histories of people’s memories of the local area.
  • St.James’ Park history featured in double-page article in the Daily Echo (17th October 2009 – see our Press page).
  • Extended the History Pages on our website to include Your Stories (2009).
  • Organised an initial series of public history talks as part of the Shirley Heritage Project (October 2009 to March 2010), followed by four further series (October 2010 to March 2011, October to December 2011, October to December 2012, October to December 2013).
  • Organised Group Tours to Southampton City Council Archives and Local Studies’ Library (December 2009 & January 2010).
  • Contributed to Southampton City Council Conservation Team’s “St.James’ Road Conservation Area” document (2009).
  • Established the FoSJP History Research group for local people interested in local history (April 2010).
  • Produced a series of FoSJP “Shirley Heritage Project Newsletters” (March 2010, October 2010, April 2011, April 2012, October 2012, April 2013, October 2013, April 2014).
  • Taken the FoSJP History Display to local schools (June 2010, June 2013), a local residents street party (July 2010), the Southampton History Fair (April 2011), the Foyes Corner Festival (May 2011), and the Shirley Women’s Institute (February 2012).
  • Organised Make Do and Mend, a series of craft and sewing classes with the aim of passing on skills and memories from older to younger generations (October 2011 to July 2012).
  • Organised an educational Medicinal and Edible Plants walk and talk in St.James’ Park (July 2012).
  • Held a Tudor Costume workshop to support Southampton’s Tudor Revels project (September 2012).
  • Held an educational workshop for children at St.James’ Park (May 2013).
  • Held an Oral History Project workshop at St.James’ Park (February 2014).
  • Organised an Edwardian Photography Studio event at St.James’ Park (February 2014).
  • Hosted a special Afternoon Tea for Oral History Project interviewees at the ParkLife Café in St.James’ Park (April 2014).
Visit our History pages to find out more about our history‑related activities.
July 12, 2014 in FoSJP's Achievements