Last night 3 members of Goodgym Croydon ran to Parkhill where we met with Co chair of volunteers Josi Kiss to design and make the Goodgym Croydon Peace Pole (hence the running feet and busy bees as we are so busy helping community groups in Croydon).

What is a Peace Pole? A Peace Pole is an internationally-recognized symbol of the hopes and dreams of humanity, standing vigil in silent prayer for peace on earth. Each Peace Pole bears a message of peace. There are estimated over 250,000 Peace Poles in every country in the world dedicated as monuments to peace.

The Friends of Park Hill Park plan to have 12 Peace Poles erected in the Walled Garden project with different community groups including Mencap, Faiths Together in Croydon and GoodGym Croydon

What will our message be on the Peace Pole? Below are some of the suggestions we have received from our members, we have not decided which to go with so you still have a chance to put forward your suggestion or vote on one of the below. I’m happy to be sent a text, email or receive a call with ideas, suggestions or a vote.

• Community, resilience, trust

• kindness, unity, harmony

• Encourage, Dream, Inspire, Hope, Sparkle

• Patience, Generosity, Nurture, Community, Growth

• Go vegan now

Myself, Ingrid and Stephanie do not consider ourselves gifted with the artistic skills to draw but with the help of Josi who made up for our lack of talent and giving us expert advice on how to draw some of the things on the pole we were able to make a decent start on our pole.

Using the below are you able to reproduce some of our creation? If not keep an eye out for our next session (date to be confirmed) with Josi where you can receive first hand tutoring on mastering the arts.

Figure 8 = Running Feet

Clock face = Flower

Teardrop = Bumble Bee

We were a small but mighty group last night who had a wonderful time laughing and chatting away as we worked alongside Josi. Soon it was time for us to down our tools and head off. We said our farewells to Josi and set off back to Solutions.

Will you be joining us next on our next adventure? Sign up here.