Islington Tribune - by ROISIN GADELRAB Published: 11 April 2008
Tyler Mulcare, 5, and Cassi Konneh, 5, with animal pictures drawn by children in Harare
Charity bash raises funds to protect wildlife reserve
SCHOOLCHILDREN from Islington and Zimbabwe have collaborated to help save a national park from being redeveloped.
Adults and children flocked to Islington Ecology Centre on Saturday to join in craft workshops, taste tea and cakes and buy paintings donated by children in Zimbabwe.
Budding young artists were taught how to draw scary lions while cool refreshments came in the form of non-alcoholic cocktails from Zimbabwe and Malawi.
The event, organised by Friends of Gillespie Park, successfully raised more than £250, which will help protect Greystone Park Nature Reserve in Harare from future development.
Claire Connolly, of Friends of the Earth, said: “We need to raise £250 annually to keep the park from being built on. It was a successful day. We raised the money we needed.”
Greystone Park was created by a group of residents who wanted to protect the green belt in their suburb and is home to a wide variety of bird and plant-life.