Friends of Tooting Common’s annual Fun Dog Show will be on Sunday 8 June afternoon, in the “events” area on Tooting Common (as in previous years). Registration of dogs from 1pm, Show starts 2pm. Please see poster.

The categories for the Show will be: 

·         Most handsome dog

·         Junior handler – up to 8 years

·         Best puppy (up to 18 months)

·         Young handler (8 to 16 years)

·         Prettiest bitch

·         Best fancy dress

·         Best veteran – over 8 years

·         Best trick

·         Best rescue

·         Waggiest tail 

Everyone – whether dog owner or not – will be very welcome!

Our annual Pumpkin Parade this year is on Sunday 27 October, from 4-5pm, by the cafe on the Common. There will be competitions for best carved pumpkins (in categories most artistic, funniest and scariest), and for home-made fancy dress. Please see poster here

Everyone is very welcome – please come!

Sunday 20 October, evening – Bat walk. For more details, email fotcinformation@gmail.com

Tuesday 22 October – Litter pick. Meet at the cafe at 11am

Sunday 27 October – Litter pick. Meet at the cafe at 11am

Sunday 27 October – Pumpkin Parade. 4-5pm by the cafe

Sunday 3 November – FOTC AGM, 2.30pm at St Anselms Church, Lower Hall SW17 8BS

Tuesday 5 November – Litter pick. Meet at the cafe at 11am

Sunday 10 November – Litter pick. Meet at the cafe at 11am

Friends of Tooting Common carries out fortnightly litter picks on the Common. The next pick will be on Tuesday 22 October, starting at 11am at the cafe on the Common. Please bring a pair of sturdy gloves.

Friends of Tooting Common run monthly bat walks during the spring, summer and autumn. The final bat walk of the year will be on Sunday 20 October evening. For more information please email fotcinformation@gmail.com.

Photo competition for July to September 2024

Friends of Tooting Common run photo competitions for Tooting Common. Photos can be of any aspect of Tooting Common, particularly one which brings out its distinctive character.

The winner of FOTC’s photo competition for July to September 2024 is Arie Vanderwijst, for the excellent photo attached.

Congratulations to Arie!

A number of people post photos of the Common on the FoTC Facebook group, particularly of trees and plants.

We (FOTC) draw these together every few months and post them here. The most recent set of photos is here: 

FB posts Jan to Mar 2021

We hope these photos help celebrate the Common, particularly for people who aren’t often able to get out onto it.

Many thanks to all of the photographers, and particularly to Roy (Vickery) for his very informative posts, and for sharing his botanical expertise with us.  Many thanks also to Eamonn (Richardson) for drawing these photos together.

Some photos for previous months are:

FB posts Nov -Dec 2020

FOTC September-November 2020

FOTC, august-september2020

FOTC JULY-AUGUST 2020

FOTC-June-July-2020

FOTC-May/June2020

 FOTC April/May 2020

We hope this will provide a longer-term record of how the Common looks at different times.

Alongside circulating these photos, we also run regular photo competitions for the Common. (See separate blog post on this.)

Friends of Tooting Common are concerned at the volume of litter on the Common.  Litter collection by the Council’s contractor has improved in recent years, but litter remains a problem. We also arrange our own volunteer litter picks. 

It is also very important that people take litter home with them, and certainly do not to leave it lying out on the Common.  Littering the Common is selfish, and spoils the Common – which is a really excellent greenspace, available to everybody – for everyone else.

There has been very considerable wear and damage to a number of parts of the Common as a result of heavy usage, particularly during summer 2020. These problems have been exacerbated recently by waterlogging, resulting in a number of large muddy areas. FOTC have raised these issues of concern with Enable (who manage the Common on the Council’s behalf), while recognising that these and other problems on the Common may not have easy short-term solutions.

There have been some general concerns about dog and puppy thefts in London, and also some reports recently of people acting suspiciously in some other greenspaces in Wandsworth – eg asking dog owners about their dogs, and/or taking photos of the dogs. There have been no reported incidents of concern on Tooting Common, which is re-assuring. However dog owners using Tooting Common may want to be generally aware of these reports, and to be vigilant to eg anyone asking questions about their dog(s).

Also, if you know of any actual theft, or see someone acting suspiciously, please report it to the police on 101, so that any incidents can be logged and acted on.