Broomfield Conservatory volunteers got together to celebrate their successes at the end of June
In a normal year, volunteers from the Friends of Broomfield Park's conservatory group get together to celebrate with mince pies and mulled wine in early January, fortifying themselves ahead of another busy twelve months tending to the plants and opening PG's own mini-Kew Gardens to the public twice weekly. But thanks to the pandemic this didn't happen in January 2021 or this January. However, last week the volunteers finally had an opportunity to gather and be photographed in the delightful space that their collective efforts have created.
The fact that Broomfield Conservatory is open at all and is stocked with a colourful array of exotic plants is entirely down to volunteering. It's a long time since the council had enough resources to look after the building and its plants, and for several years it was abandoned, with windows broken and the impressive bench at the far end stolen. Then, in 2009, the council finally found the funds to refurbish the conservatory and reglaze it, using breakage-resistant "glass", some of which is shaped to resemble the original 1934 roof panes.
However, while the council pays for the heating needed to maintain a minimum temperature of 15C and for an occasional paint and repair job, it isn't able to look after it on a day-to-day basis. That's where the volunteers come in. In 2010 the Friends of Broomfield Park set up their conservatory group, whose members did the work needed to get the Conservatory in a state fit for visitors and have maintained the plants and opened the building up to visitors ever since. They have also run numerous special events, including plant sales, art and craft workshops and musical afternoons.
Volunteer roles in the Conservatory
There are several sides to voluntary work in the Conservatory: someone drops by every day to check that everything is in order and to do any required watering; twice a week, on Sunday and Wednesday afternoons, volunteer stewards look after visitors and talk to them about the plants; and every six weeks or so, on a Saturday morning, the volunteers meet up for bigger jobs - re-potting, replanting, propagating plants and so on, invariably taking a break to consume some home-made cake!
Volunteering in the Conservatory is a great way to make new friends and to discover what's going on in Palmers Green and around. Which of the various jobs described above you volunteer for is up to you and they don't take up much time - stewarding duties come up only once a month.
Links
If you're interested in becoming a conservatory volunteer, visit the volunteering page on the Friends of Broomfield Park website and fill in the form.
For more about the Conservatory and its volunteers, read this Enfield Dispatch article.