How we work

Working days, local partnerships, Open Meetings, applying for grants… it’s all in a day’s work for the Friends of Conway Rec!

Our main aim is to keep Conway Rec a safe, attractive and environmentally rich space which can be shared by local people and visitors of all ages. We work towards this aim in lots of different ways…

Activity Days

The main business of the Friends’ group is practical maintenance and improvement of the pond, green spaces and plants that make up the Rec. For this we hold regular Activity Days, often on a Sunday but also sometimes on a mid-week morning.

All are welcome to come with gloves, boots and suitable attire –

And just get stuck in! We have some equipment (including waders!) but it’s always helpful when people come with the tools for the kind of job they’d like to help with (digging, planting, weeding, composting, pruning, mowing, sweeping, litter collection, watering and so on).

See the 'What's On' section of our homepage for the date of the next working day.

Email information

Everyone with an interest in the work is welcome to join our contacts list. Each Friend on the list can choose to receive core information only (relating only to Conway Rec) or general information (which includes material relating to green matters more generally and notices about courses and local issues). To be added to our list, email your preference to friendsofconwayrec@gmail.com.

Committee meetings

An elected Committee meets regularly to steer the Friends’ work. We also hold Open meetings in the Tennis Clubhouse every few months and, in the Spring, this takes the form of an Annual General Meeting when Friends receive the Chair’s report on the work of the past year and the Treasurer’s financial report. There is also an opportunity to comment on current issues and guide the programme for the year ahead.

Grants and awards

Some money is inevitably needed to support the commitment and hard work of the Friends. The Council gave us a small start-up grant in 2010 and has, on three occasions since, supported our projects with grants from the Enfield Friends’ Fund. Local people responded brilliantly to a request a while back for voluntary donations.

We have also been fortunate enough to secure grants from Biffa and the Postcode Trust and a small contribution of cash and materials from the Major of London’s Clean-up campaign. We keep our eyes open for opportunities to win grants to support the environmental and social improvements in the Rec.

Local partnerships

The Friends have close links with a number of other bodies. We are in regular touch with Enfield Council’s Parks Team and the Met’s Parks Police. Both organisations are represented at and contribute to our General Meetings. They respond where they can when we need support or have issues to raise.

Local businesses have supported some of our ventures and we have collaborated with our local schools – St Monica’s and Walker – on projects and events.

Conway Tennis Club

We are closely affiliated to Conway Tennis Club; we use the clubhouse for our Open Meetings and work together to host social events. Tennis Club members help at our activity days and support improvement work in the vicinity of the courts. The Club has kindly permitted us to erect a small storage shed on the grass behind the clubhouse.

Events in the Rec

From time to time, we hold events in the Rec. In June 2014, for example, we teamed up with Conway Tennis Club, St Monica’s and Walker Schools, and local businesses to mount a celebration of the centenary of the designation as a ‘public space’ of what we now know as Conway Recreation Ground.

The weather just about held for the afternoon and several hundred local people dropped by to enjoy a historical display, a WW1 allotment stall, some resident animal face-painting, traditional Punch and Judy, games, a raffle, refreshments and an elegant string quartet. It was a day to remember, thanks as always to the generosity of local supporters and visitors.