Friends of South Norwood Country Park are seeking donations for their newest project “Wetlands for Waders” which will encourage different waders and waterfowl to the park.

A free talk is being staged next week to try to raise money towards the project.

John Hickman and Carole Roberts will give a local history talk on the John Gent Postcards collection on Friday October 14

“The John Gent Postcards Collection allows us an amazing peek into the Croydon, including South Norwood, of the past – not only in pictures, but also in messages sent to family and friends a hundred years ago,” they say. “We will be briefly looking into how the collection of over 12 500 postcards was catalogued, and then delving into the treasures it contains.”

Money raised at this event will go towards the £1,500 target for the “Wetlands for Waders” project.

Working with the park wardens the Friends of South Norwood Country Park hope to provide wader scrapes which will imitate natural hollows where water will collect. This will help to support high volumes of insects which feed birds and amphibians and will encourage plant species which benefit water voles.

The scrapes can be designed to hold surface water and act as important wet features in their own right and can be used to channel water to the centre of fields. They are hoping to install a couple of long linear drains to feed a network of half a dozen scrapes.

This work is supported by Croydon Council’s Environmental Services and the Water for Wildlife Manager from the Wildlife Trust.

Next Friday’s talk begins at 7.30pm and is being held at Oasis Academy Arena, Albert Road. Attendance is free but donations towards the project will be welcomed.

• Inside Croydon Events: for the most comprehensive community events listings, updated daily

• Still Croydon’s only independent news source, and based in the heart of the borough: 1.97 million page views 2013-2015
• Inside Croydon: Named among best regional media campaigns, 2014
• If you have a news story about life in or around Croydon, a residents’ or business association or local event to publicise, please email us with full details at inside.croydon@btinternet.com