Louie French, Member of Parliament for Old Bexley and Sidcup, has welcomed the generous donation of £5000 from Sidcup's successful Coca Cola factory to support a new community project from the fantastic Friends of Foots Cray Meadows (FFCM).
A system, involving up to ten locations, is being installed within the 240 acres to provide information on the likes of the region’s history and the wildlife.
Simply by scanning the QR codes, positioned on locally sourced posts throughout the area, you can receive a wealth of information describing that vicinity.
For example, Post 3, located not far from the west side of the Meadows close to Rectory Lane, will provide data about All Saints’ Church, the Penny Farthing Bridge and the avenue of sweet chestnut trees.
The QR code page will then direct people to the FFCM website, where a fuller version of the information can be accessed.
Coca-Cola has donated £5,000 towards this QR code Information Post Project and further schemes to improve the awareness of the Meadows and the experience walkers can enjoy within this wonderful facility.
Commenting on the news, Louie said: "This is really good news for our community and all of us who enjoy the stunning Foots Cray Meadows. Whilst a small minority always seek to talk down our area, these type of projects and partnerships highlight again how wonderful our community is, and I would like to thank again Coca-Cola and all the fantastic volunteers at the Friends of Foots Cray Meadows".
Rory Kerr, Operations Director at Coca-Cola Europacific Partners Sidcup, said: “We were delighted to partner with Friends of Foots Cray and accepted their invitation to support creating a nature trail, cleverly linking digital with the history and biodiversity of our natural environment.
“This facility promises to provide a rewarding and historic visitor destination in Sidcup for both locals and visitors to enjoy, gaining the knowledge of the parklands’ history and the biodiversity.
Work on the QR project, being masterminded by FFCM committee member Jacky Turner, is at an advanced stage and should be up and running early next month.
Michael Heath, chair of the Friends of Foots Cray Meadows, said: “‘This wonderful donation from Coca-Cola Sidcup will not only fund our QR code Information Post Project but will enable the Friends to enhance our activities and other engagement with the many communities who visit the Meadows.’
For details on how you can support the Friends of Foots Cray Meadows, please go to our website at https://www.footscraymeadows.org/
