Between 2017 and 2021, CPUG continued to represent park users while developing projects around the park’s history, biodiversity, community activities and information.

These years saw the launch of the illustrated Clissold Park map, the Joseph Beck commemorative plaque, volunteering at the Butterfly Dome and a community celebration for the park’s 130th birthday.

The Covid-19 pandemic interrupted public meetings and volunteering in 2020, but we continued to share information and maintain contact with park management. Public meetings resumed in 2021.

A new illustrated map of Clissold Park

In 2017, we launched a new illustrated map of Clissold Park commissioned from local artist Anna Hymas.

The map combined information about the park with illustrations of its landscape, buildings, facilities and wildlife. Sales of the map also provided a source of income for CPUG.

The map continued to be sold and distributed in subsequent years and became part of our wider work to help people explore and understand the park.

Events and activities

Community events and activities continued to be an important part of our work.

In August 2017, CPUG organised a free summer music event in the park. Around 250 people were reported to have attended.

We also continued fundraising and exploring ways to support improvements. A crowdfunding campaign was launched in 2017 to raise money for additional swings, but it did not reach its target. The later installation of toddler swings by Hackney Council was separate from that campaign.

This was one of many occasions when an idea pursued by CPUG did not result directly in the outcome originally sought. Raising proposals, testing ideas and representing what park users want remain important parts of our role.

Representing park users

Throughout these years, we continued to raise concerns and suggestions about the everyday use and management of Clissold Park.

Issues included cycling, playground equipment and repairs, toilets, management arrangements, Clissold House and the café, and the future use of the Pump House.

In 2017 we asked for painted signs on paths to reinforce messages about considerate cycling. Hackney Council subsequently installed painted slow-cycling warnings in 2018.

Other issues took considerably longer to resolve. CPUG repeatedly raised the future of the Pump House, for example, but it remained unused during this period. Representing park users often involves continuing to pursue issues even where there is no immediate change.

Remembering Joseph Beck

Heritage continued to form an important part of our work.

In 2018, CPUG contributed towards a commemorative plaque for Joseph Beck, one of the leading figures in the campaign that saved the land that became Clissold Park from development in the 1880s.

The project was organised by Amir Dotan with Barton House, working with CPUG, Hackney Council and descendants of Joseph Beck. The plaque was unveiled at Barton House on Albion Road on 10 November 2018.

The plaque extended our heritage work beyond the park itself and followed earlier projects including the restoration of the Beck and Runtz Memorial Fountain and historical activities marking the park’s 125th anniversary.

Volunteering at the Butterfly Dome

In 2019, CPUG volunteers took on practical work at the Butterfly Dome.

Volunteer activity included clearing the area, watering and preparing it for native plants. Further volunteer days followed during the year.

The project was part of a developing strand of CPUG activity around biodiversity and practical volunteering that would become increasingly prominent in later years.

Celebrating 130 years of Clissold Park

In 2019, we organised a community event marking 130 years since Clissold Park opened to the public in 1889.

The anniversary continued a tradition of CPUG using events and activities to celebrate the park and bring together the people who use it.

Clissold House, the café and other proposals

We continued to take an interest in how Clissold House and other park buildings were used.

In 2019, CPUG participated in presentations connected with the tender for the Clissold House café.

We also discussed a proposal for a market in the park and maintained links with local organisations and the police around community safety.

These activities reflect an important part of our work: engaging with proposals before decisions are made and providing opportunities for park users’ views to be considered.

The Covid-19 pandemic

The Covid-19 pandemic changed the way CPUG could operate during 2020.

Public meetings were suspended and restrictions affected volunteering, including work at the Butterfly Dome.

We continued to publish updates, maintain contact with park management and provide information to park users. Clissold Park maps were also distributed during the period.

The park itself remained open under arrangements made by Hackney Council. CPUG did not manage the park or its pandemic response, but continued to provide communication and maintain contact with the Council while normal public meetings were unable to take place.

Biodiversity and volunteering during the pandemic

Despite the restrictions, some biodiversity work continued.

Volunteers regained limited access to the Butterfly Dome towards the end of 2020 to carry out watering and maintenance. Some plants survived, although other elements of the work were unsuccessful.

We also considered funding new hedging in the park. That proposal was not completed during 2020, but the idea continued and CPUG eventually funded new boundary hedging in 2022.

This illustrates how some of our projects develop over several years rather than fitting neatly within a single meeting or calendar year.

Returning to public meetings

Formal public meetings resumed with CPUG’s AGM on 25 September 2021, following the interruption caused by the pandemic.

Biodiversity was among the activities during the year. CPUG Biodiversity Representative Richard Crawford organised a survey around two plane trees in the park. The survey recorded 52 species of plants and wildlife within the area studied, and a small exhibition about the work was subsequently held at Newington Green Meeting House.

The figure relates specifically to that survey area rather than to the park as a whole.

Accessibility

Accessibility continued to be raised as public meetings resumed.

In 2021 we raised concerns about some of the park’s benches, including difficulties caused by low seating and a lack of suitable seating in exposed areas.

Hackney Council acknowledged the issue for consideration when purchasing benches in future, although the existing benches were not changed at that point.

This is another example of the representational side of our work: identifying problems experienced by park users and raising them with the organisation responsible, even where an immediate physical change does not follow.

CPUG during 2017–2021

There was also organisational change during this period.

Mark Forsyth became Chair in March 2017, succeeding Caroline Millar, who continued as Treasurer.

In 2019, CPUG adopted a complaints policy which helped clarify the distinction between the responsibilities of the volunteer User Group and those of Hackney Council as the organisation responsible for managing and maintaining the park.

The pandemic then created an unprecedented interruption to CPUG’s normal public meetings. Their return in September 2021 marked the beginning of a renewed period of activity, with online participation introduced the following year.