The Friends of Dagnam Park was conceived at a meeting of the Brookside Angling Club in Harold Wood on the 2nd May 2003 when a whole lot of angry Harold Hill people sat in the audience bursting to have their say about the way their enjoyment of the park had been destroyed by a handful of anti-social illegal motorcyclists.

They had been given the opportunity by the angling club that had invited all comers to the meeting. We all turned up but we were not prepared to leave it at that, so a list of addresses was collected and from that original list the core of “the friends” was formed. We produced leaflets, contacted the press and organised the biggest public meeting on Harold Hill for many years. 150 local people attended the meeting which was a great success and our membership grew. Since then we have gone from strength to strength, with the angling club affiliated, about 80 supporters, and 35 paid up members. We even have our first donation from a local firm, Peter Jones Brick Paving, who has made a substantial contribution as well as delivering our leaflets free of charge. We are still campaigning against the anti social behaviour in the park but have moved into other areas.

We have already been successful in our campaign to have the park declared a Local Nature Reserve, and our campaign to include within the park the surrounding “set aside” farmland that is owned by the council has been successful. We are meeting on a regular basis and alongside our campaign meetings we also organise indoor and outdoor talks and activities. See the website notice board for the diary of events.