Benches of Hope

We were chosen to support Netflix and their After Life series to raise awareness for Campaign Against Living Miserably (CALM). We were donated a bench like the one featured in the series starring actor Ricky Gervais, it is one of only 25 across the UK.

The park’s first Scarecrow Trail took place on 23 October 2021 and had more than 20 scarecrows built by members of  the local community. The Mayor of Ashford, Cllr Callum  Knowles, announced the winners. 

A series of free workshops for Halloween was packed  out with children on the 30 October 2021.

local young people created a week of online and in park activities aimed engaging more young people with the park. Activities included workshops and demonstrations in the park by Sk8side youth group, social media posts from Victoria Park Youth Council VPYC and workshops for Love Ashfords Fabric of Ashford project.

Celebrating all our wonderful canine friends we hosted a free online dog show! Victoria Park's Barklife had ten categories and prize rosettes for the top five in each category plus a Best in Show.  We had more entries than we ever expected from the local community, nationally and even some international entries.

In November 2020 artists Hello Murals were commissioned to create a new Mural for the park, to engage and inspire the local community. The mural features native bird species of the park, a Snow Dog and a stag. 

In July 2020 young people and youth groups took part in creating a week of online content and activities for young people. This included art challenges, an online performance from MGD Dance Crew, videos made by young people from Sk8side and The Vineyard youth groups, a craft tutorial by Animate Arts and Create @Home.