Dear FoHL Supporters. This is my first update of 2023, so a little belated but a Happy New Year to you all!
It has been a quiet few months for us, but like the Lagoon planting beds, we are showing signs of life.
Our new rainbow bench – bought with Healthy Neighbourhood Funds via West Hove Forum, has been sited under the eaves of the NW pavilion, so our garden volunteers and visitors can rest up. Our first visitor was Galyna, a recent arrival from war torn Kyiv, who is staying with a host family in Hove along with her husband, daughter and grandchildren. It’s gratifying that she survived the turmoil in Ukraine and now considers the Lagoon and the beach- and our new bench- as a haven for her and her family.
We have some great photo submissions for our FoHL/HDSA 2024 Calendar, but we need more. So please dust off your camera and phone lenses, take some high resolution, landscape photos of the Hove Lagoon/HDSA area and send them to me at friendsofhovelagoon@gmail.com. We will be making our final selection at the end of May.
The gardening group will be swinging into action again soon, so if you would like to join garden leads Chris, Joanne and Tom and their band of volunteers please email hovelagoongardeners@gmail.com to register your interest.
We continue to be heavily involved in the council’s Kingsway to the Sea Project (Ktts), along with West Hove Seafront Action Group and the local councillors. Work on the initial construction at the eastern end of the site is happening as I write. Discussions about the changes to the Hove Lagoon toilets, the Big Beach Cafe and the LagoonFunPlay facilities are well underway and when we know more I will let you know. More information can be found at the Ktts pages on the council’s website.
We are members of the Brighton and Hove Green Spaces Forum and they have told us about this year’s global City Nature Challenge, being organised locally by the University of Brighton, along with 19 other UK areas. If you wish to participate, please see the attached leaflet. Further info from www.citychallenge.org.uk
We are linked with a number of local friends groups and charities, with whom we swap info and provide/get support. It is of particular importance at this time of severe financial restraint in the City, where basic services are being cut dramatically. I have co-authored an article in this month’s Hovarian with Helmut Lusser, Chair of Hove Civic Society on this very topic. Please do share any thoughts, ideas and suggestions about how we can protect and improve Hove Lagoon via this email address or on our social media platforms. And before you mention it, we continue to raise on a regular basis the hedge and grass cutting service with the council!
Best wishes
Sue Johnson
Secretary, Friends of Hove Lagoon
Friends of Hove Lagoon CIC 