Welcome to Friends of Graves Park Heritage website. Join Us if you would like to help us support, improve and protect Graves Park.
Events
Join us at the Rose Garden Cafe on Monday to find out the latest about the restoration project!
Graves Park is a large park in the south of Sheffield, combining a unique historical landscape with a rich environmental and recreational space. It was established by JG Graves in the 1920s and 30s and given by him to the people of Sheffield for them to enjoy forever. Find out more about the history of Graves Park here. Generations have enjoyed this remarkable place.
Friends of Graves Park is a small charity run by volunteers which exists to protect and enhance this unique place for the people of Sheffield now and into the future.
News
Rose Garden Cafe Latest:
Rose Garden Cafe Partnership Statement
From Meeting of Friday 24th January 2025
Latest News from the Rose Garden Café Partnership
We had a presentation of the architects RIBA Stage 2 design scheme based on our recent public
consultation along with the initial costs for the restoration of the cafe and we intend to present
these at a public meeting on Monday 10th February in the Rose Garden Cafe from 6.30pm
8.30pm. Everyone is welcome.
We also intend to submit an expression of interest for the project costs to the National Lottery
Heritage Fund by February 26th 2025.
We will be updating the Council’s Charity Trustee Sub-Committee on 3rd March 2025.
- For more details of our progress and future plans go to the Partnerships ‘Have Your Say’ page https://haveyoursay.sheffield.gov.uk/rose-garden-cafe
Just a reminder to everyone that the partnership is made up of representatives from the Save the Rose Garden Café group, Friends of Graves Park and Sheffield City Council.
Please spread the word and let’s get people donating to our fundraiser.
https://www.justgiving.com/campaign/RoseGardenCafeGravesPark?invite=true
or by BACS transfer, confirming with email:
Please pay “Friends of Graves Park”
Bank Details:- Sort Code 30-97-51 A/c No. 03370075
If you have any offers of support, please get in touch. Spread the word!
Finding Lost Norton Park: Digging Deeper for All Project
Winter into Spring Events 2025
Although the Digging Deeper Project is now over, you might be interested in the following events in 2025.
Field walks & free indoor talks:
Thursday 13th February, 10am to 12noon: Birdwatching Walk led by Karon Mayor meeting next to the Rose Garden Café.
Monday 17th February: Nature and Wellness with Caroline Cook. Caroline will talk about the therapeutic benefits of our connection to nature in woodlands and via horticulture. Lees Hall Golf Club, Hemsworth Road. Free, all welcome to attend. Doors open at 6.30pm for a 7pm start, finishing around 8.30pm.
There will also be another reminiscence / local history session on Tuesday 25th Feb. 11am at the Norton. Please get in touch if you want more details – all welcome. Centenary years and commemorative events will be topics under discussion.
Thursday 13th March, 10am to 12noon: Birdwatching Walk led by Karon Mayor meeting next to the Rose Garden Café.
Monday 10th March: Riverlution: providing training in practical conservation with Geoff Guy, CEO of Riverlution who will talk about the organisation and the volunteer apprenticeship scheme which is working in Graves Park. Lees Hall Golf Club, Hemsworth Road. Free, all welcome to attend. Doors open at 6.30pm for a 7pm start, finishing around 8.30pm.
Saturday 22nd March, 2.30pm to 4.30pm: Spring Birds & Flowers led by Ian Rotherham meeting point tbc.
Monday 24th March: Spring Birds and Spring Flowers of Graves Park with Ian Rotherham. Lees Hall Golf Club, Hemsworth Road. Free, all welcome to attend. Doors open at 6.30pm for a 7pm start, finishing around 8.30pm.
Monday 7th April: Monitoring the Rainfall, Water Flows and Stream through Graves Park – first results with Kevin Spence, Sheffield Hallam University. Lees Hall Golf Club, Hemsworth Road. Free, all welcome to attend. Doors open at 6.30pm for a 7pm start, finishing around 8.30pm.
Click here to browse our Heritage Maps and resources.
Digging Deeper for All was an exciting investigation into the history, archaeology amd ecology of Graves Park, made possible by the support of the National Lottery Heritage Fund. It included a variety of community events and opportunities to get directly involved.
Click here to find out more and see what we discovered!
The Rose Garden Cafe
On 18th October 2023, the Charity Subcommittee met at the Town Hall for a special meeting to decide the way forward regarding the Rose Garden Café. The decision was to work in partnership with stakeholders to develop a Strategy for the restoration of the Rose Garden Café building
This appears to be good news and the Friends of Graves Park will be pushing for action as soon as possible.
Find out more detail about what’s happening here.
On 18th September 2023 the Rose Garden Cafe was listed on the South Yorkshire Local Heritage Register. This helps to support the heritage status of the cafe, but doesn’t provide the level of protection that national listing would.
Newsletter
The Summer 2024 Newsletter is now available here.
Campaigns
We have ongoing campaigns to protect threatened areas of the park and restore the next section of the former Norton Nurseries site. Find out more by clicking on the links below.
Now that Chantreyland Meadow and the Arboretum part 1 are well established in Graves Park, the Friends of Graves Park are ready to start the restoration to parkland of the next section of the former Norton Nurseries site. To donate please click on the link below.
https://www.justgiving.com/campaign/GravesParkArboretum?invite=true
How you can help:
Become a member for just £3 a year. You will receive regular newsletters and can attend our AGM.
Donate through our Just Giving account.
Support us when you shop online
Sign up to the fund-raising supports below. This is an easy way to help us whenever you shop online and it supports us with a steady income. Please read the details below and use the links to get you started.
There are over 4,000 shops and sites on board ready to make a donation – including eBay, Argos, John Lewis, ASOS, Booking.com and M&S – and it won’t cost you a penny extra to help us raise funds.
All you need to do is:
- Go to https://www.easyfundraising.org.uk/causes/fogravespark/?utm_campaign=raise-more and join for free.
- Every time you shop online, go to easyfundraising first to find the site you want and start shopping.
- After you’ve checked out, the retailer will make a donation to Friends of Graves Park at no extra cost to you whatsoever!
There are no catches or hidden charges and Friends of Graves Park will be really grateful for your donations.
Thank you for your support.
