A forgotten corner of Liverpool now has a pond, a wildlife garden and a path that takes everyone to the water’s edge, and PEAK4 was proud to be part of making it happen.
The official opening of the Fazakerley Wildlife Pond at Karonga Gardens, Thursday 8 October.
The Fazakerley Wildlife Pond at Karonga Gardens was unveiled on Thursday 8 October in front of more than 50 volunteers, partners and neighbours.
PEAK4 turned out in force, with directors Mike Phelan and Emma Johnson and head of elite performance Duncan Watmore among the team on the day.
The Lord Mayor of Liverpool, Cllr William Shortall, also attended and spoke about the importance of outdoor spaces for communities and praised the hard work and collaboration behind the project.
The official opening was also a chance to celebrate the work of Dawn McShane and Ron Watkins, who are the reason the Fazakerley Wildlife Pond exists.
As volunteer project leads, they planned the scheme, organised the volunteers and partners, and were on site to see it through.
Ron, who is nearly 81, worked on the project every week for the last four months, through the clearance, the dig and the heatwave, right up to the final stretch of path. Dawn, whose vision and hard work turned Karonga Gardens from wasteland into a community hub in the first place, kept the whole project rooted in what the neighbourhood wanted.
“Walking round the finished pond today was brilliant, and I’m so proud of the PEAK4 team who got stuck in. Not long ago this was an overgrown corner full of rubbish, and now there are frogs and dragonflies and a path that takes everyone right to the water.
“Dawn and Ron are the reason it happened. They have given so much of themselves to this, and I’m prouder than most because Ron is my dad. It shows what a community and a group of partners can do when they all pull the same way.”
Getting stuck in
PEAK4 colleagues joined the Karonga Gardens community on site through the build, which ran from June to early October. On one scorching July day, PEAK4 kept the team going with caps and electrolyte drinks as volunteers laid the underlay for the pond liner in the middle of a heatwave.
We worked alongside partners including Cadent Gas, Network Plus, United Utilities, PMCE, R and R Utility Solutions and Zach and Man Removals to deliver the project. Network Plus donated a micro digger for the whole project and four people to run it, Cadent Gas volunteers shaped the pond’s shelves and ledges, and PMCE donated materials and labour for the accessible path, as well as Caecillian donating and installing the decked area.
From Victorian dump to wildlife haven
The dig for the pond turned up hundreds of glass bottles and jars, because Karonga Gardens sits on a former Victorian waste site.
Every one was picked out by hand. The finished garden has stone and pebble beaches, slate walling, log habitats and new planting beds.
And the pond has welcomed its first fish, gudgeon and nine-spined sticklebacks, and frogs, dragonflies, grey wagtails, chaffinches and goldfinches have already been spotted.
A space for wellbeing
Karonga Gardens was created from wasteland by project lead Dawn and local volunteers, working with Cobalt Housing and the Fazakerley Community Federation. It runs a forest school, wellbeing groups and workshops, with the aim of improving wellbeing and reducing loneliness through nature.
The pond adds to that, and a wraparound accessible path means wheelchair users and visitors with limited mobility can reach the water.
The difference it made
Company volunteers gave 323 hours of general help and 272 hours of expert time. The project raised £8,400 in funds and received £10,800 in donations in kind, adding up to £54,500 of social value return measured under the TOMs framework.
