For the second time this week, a press release as to how the Belle Vue inspired Manchester is developing. Please grow this group and the Debdale Park page to play an active part in developing the vision. PRESS RELEASE: Friends of Debdale Park Debdale Park, 1075 Hyde Road, Gorton Manchester M18 7LJ Press Release: 6 June 2014 Queen’s Award - for Gorton Group with an exciting new vision for Debdale Park The Friends of Debdale Park have just been awarded the Queen’s Award for community service. They are the first park in Manchester to receive this award. This is great news and a recognition of the work of many volunteers over the years. Their aim is to make Debdale Park somewhere special for all to enjoy. As well working to maintain the park The Friends also run projects, which they have started, for the whole community. Activities provided include cycling, walking, horticulture, woodworking, fishing, arts and crafts - projects are growing all the time, as is the scope of their activity. As Chair of the Friends, Allan Grafton, explains, “The Friends is an umbrella organisation of both individuals and projects based in the park. On some days there can be over 50 people in the various projects which cater for people of all ages, abilities and needs. Our aim is to provide something for everyone” Volunteers also work in the park every day to try to maintain it and there is now an exciting new Volunteer Maintenance Programme being run by the Friends in collaboration with Park Manager, Steve Downey. As Steve explained: “This is an exciting new way of helping to maintain the park. The new programme allocates a part of the park to each group so that improvements can be made across the whole park.” As well as individual volunteers there are groups involved like Pinnacle People – a pre-employment, back to work scheme, which gives unemployed people a chance to learn new skills. This also benefits the park. The scheme is coordinated from the Eco Centre - another exciting park based community enterprise run by Helen Dodd, who coordinates the volunteers. The Eco Centre also provides training and runs a whole range of horticultural courses from hanging baskets to green recycling, so nothing in the park goes to waste. There are courses are for all age groups and all the family. The scope of the work of the Friends has grown in response to council cut backs to services and personnel, which has led to a growing number of complaints over the state of the park. The Friends have just taken delivery of a new tractor mower to help maintain the grass areas of the Park. This is the third mower they have acquired this year for use by volunteers. The Friends are now raising funds for a Green Gym – with exercise frames located around the park – and to renew the rose garden, as well as introduce more woodland and wild flower areas. This is so that there will be something for everyone, whether you want to keep fit or just sit and relax in a peaceful setting. Amongst the current priorities of the Friends is the restoration of the Georgian house in the centre of the park, Gorton House. This is an ambitious £2M project to provide a wide range of community facilities in a restored house. A strategy to deliver this objective by July 2017 is now well under way. This is all part of a vision by the Friends to involve the whole community and make the park a great place to be. As the Chair of the Friends, Allan Grafton, says, “We may have lost Belle Vue but we are not going to see Debdale Park finish up the same way. The people of Gorton love their park and are determined to look after it, whatever the economic cuts – and whatever the weather!” Contacts for further information: Allan Grafton, JP MBE, Chair of the The Friends: 07985066478 Paul Kirkham, Secretary to The Friends of Debdale: 07932957624
Posted on: Fri, 06 Jun 2014 13:17:22 +0000
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