Chair's update: October

Tom Walker, Chair

I'm really pleased to welcome five new Trustees to our Board this month. They bring huge experience of history, nature, fundraising and running charities. We are a registered charity and the Trustees take on an important role in making sure we deliver on our charitable objectives. Welcome to Ali, Ellie, Chris, Ben and Martina. You can find their biographies here.

In September we have carried on a bumper series of events on different topics, such as two sell out "bat walks". We work with a range of wonderful speakers and we are always open to ideas. If you are a history or nature lover and want to get involved in our shaping our work then please get in touch.

Our future listings are always up to date and events carry on through October. We will be marking the anniversary of the Coronation Avenue tragedy which, along with other civilian lives lost in World War II, is commemorated on the Civilian War Memorial.

The Restoration Project works have been progressing with more preliminary work and site clearance. The main contractors are on site. Our office and visitors centre is now empty and we will shortly be taking up temporary residence in the site portacabins. Anyone wanting to meet us or make an enquiry about the Park or grave searches should email us on info@abneypark.org.

Grave search and grave maintenance is an important part of our work for families and relatives trying to trace history in the park. We always have a number of live enquiries and we have access to the site archives to help people locate a grave. We also partner with Hackney Council on the Abney Unearthed project, and the team are constantly sourcing new stories and history – like the tale of Archibald Sloss.

Maybe I will say this every season, but I think autumn is a very special time for Abney Park. First the golden tree tops, falling leaves and crisper mornings – before the slow reveal of the deeper parts of the park. We'll be doing a month on #AbneyAutumn again on Twitter and Instagram. Nothing is more rewarding than when visitors share their pictures, suggestions or ideas with us.

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