Our Community
Local Events, Local Charities, Volunteering and Withey Beds
Local Events
A list of upcoming local events that residents may find of interest
Moor Park 10K & Fun Run
The annual Moor Park 10K & Fun Run returns for its 23rd year on Sunday 22nd September 2024.
Details on how to sign up at:
www.atwevents.co.uk/e/moor-park-10k-and-junior-fun-runs-9152
Sunday 6th October 2024
Hold the date.
More details to come
Moor Park Christmas Market & Carol Concert
Saturday 14th December 2024
Hold the date
More details to come
Charities & Causes
MPRA are proud supporters of Lynda Jackson Macmillan Centre (LJMC) and have been fundraising and volunteering for the service for many years though events including the Moor Park 10K and fun run, our annual Carol Concert and our Santa Dash.
Based at the Mount Vernon Cancer Centre, LJMC is one of the first organisations of its kind to provide support, information and holistic care to local people affected by cancer. The team provide a drop-in service that support patients and families by helping them cope with all aspects of cancer from diagnosis through to treatment and beyond.
If you would like to find out more about the charity visit www.ljmc.org/
Café on the Common is a training café which helps young adults with learning disabilities make the most of their lives.
The café is run by Mission EmployAble, a social enterprise charity. Each year, they take on a team of interns with learning disabilities and provide them the skills and confidence to find paid work when they finish their year’s programme.
Website: www.missionemployable.co.uk/cafe.php
Volunteering
Bringing Our Community Together
Moor Park & Eastbury Neighbours Together is a mutual aid voluntary group who initially came together in March 2020 to help residents who were elderly, vulnerable or isolating during the pandemic. Four years later they are still active and now have over 50 volunteers. Read more about what they have and are achieving in the attached Bringing Our Community Together PDF.
Withey Beds
The Withey Beds is a Local Nature Reserve, located between Moor Park, the Metropolitan tube line, River Colne and Moor Lane. It has a variety of habitats from marshes and wetlands to grassland that supports a wide variety of wildlife. It is a small reserve covering about 20 acres or 7.7 hectares, lying in a green belt, linking Croxley Common and Hampermill Lake. The entrance is on the east side of Moor Lane just north of Sandy Lodge Road.
The Withey Bed site was purchased by the council in 2004 to protect the wildlife in the reserve. The Friends of the Withey Beds was formed to help support the reserve, which is managed by the local council and supported by MPRA.
The Withey Beds get their name for the old English for willow. Willows were grown in the marshy area for coppicing and were an important part of the local economy. The cut willow stems were used for basket making and witheys are still used for this purpose today.
Several projects have completed since the reserve was formed, the abandoned WWII pill box has been converted into a bat roost, a living willow hide has been built along with a boardwalk and a number of bird boxes have been placed on trees in the reserve. Among the birds seen are kites, kestrels, kingfishers and woodpeckers along with a wide variety of wildfowl.
Three Rivers District Council has received Green Apple Awards for the environmental work at The Withey Beds and MPRA are pleased to support the reserve.
Website: www.thewitheybeds.org.uk/
