Parks and countryside
Love Parks Week: Volunteers help to ensure Walsall's parks are safer for everyone
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Walsall Council is celebrating Love Parks Week by highlighting the work of their dedicated volunteers who help to keep the borough’s parks and green spaces safer for everyone.
Love Parks Week is an annual campaign run by Keep Britian Tidy, which celebrates parks, green spaces and the dedicated volunteers and workers that look after them all year round.
This year’s campaign runs from 28 July to 6 August 2023, with a particular focus on making parks safer for everyone, especially women and girls. This follows Keep Britian Tidy’s support of research conducted by Leeds University, which highlighted that many women and girls do not feel safe in their local parks.
Walsall is home to a diverse array of parks and green spaces, 10 of which received the coveted Green Flag Award earlier this month.
Behind these green spaces is a large team of dedicated Walsall Council volunteers. These volunteers perform a variety of different roles throughout the year to help ensure that local parks are safe, clean and welcoming spaces for all who wish to use them.
These roles include:
Walsall Community Litter Pickers
Volunteers collect litter from local parks, green spaces and streets. 20,905 bags of rubbish have been collected by community litter pickers in the last 12 months.
Healthy Spaces Conservation volunteers
Conservation volunteers contribute towards upkeep and maintenance of parks and green spaces to ensure they are neat, safe and accessible for all. Regular maintenance work includes planting, path maintenance and vegetation clearing.
Walsall ‘Walk on’ Walk Leaders
Weekly organised walks are led by walk leaders in parks and green spaces across the borough. Walk leaders ensure the safety of participants, as well as enabling walkers to increase their confidence, improve their wellbeing and develop social connections within the community.
Friends of parks groups
These groups help to organise regular activities and events in their local parks and green spaces for community members, whilst also carrying out regular maintenance, upkeep and improvement works.
“ Our parks and green spaces provide a vital space within our communities for people of all ages to connect, play, grow, learn, improve their health and relax. It’s of upmost importance that we keep our parks safe, clean and accessible, so that everyone has the chance to make use of these beautiful natural spaces.
We want all of our residents and community members to feel safe whilst visiting their local parks, that’s why we’re so grateful to our Walsall Council volunteers who tirelessly dedicate themselves to ensuring our parks and green spaces are safe, thriving and engaging environments.
Our volunteers provide fantastic accessible opportunities for our local communities to come together and connect with nature, and each other, through the work they carry out within our parks and green spaces. Through this work, our volunteers enable our communities to improve their physical and mental wellbeing by taking advantage of the numerous health benefits our parks have to offer, as well as increasing their confidence in using their local green spaces. “
Jacquie Orford has been leading regular organised walks at Reedswood Park and Willenhall Park for the last 15 years, as part of the council’s ‘Walk on’ volunteer group.
“ As a walk leader, safety is very important, as we welcome all walkers, no matter their age or ability. Whenever a new walk is being planned, we complete a risk assessment so that we’re aware of any potential hazards such as uneven ground, brambles, tree stumps or worn steps. We’re then able to pass this information on to the council, which contributes to the maintenance and upkeep of our green spaces.
Having walks with an efficient and engaging walk leader means that many people, particularly more elderly or vulnerable women, feel less anxious and apprehensive about using their local parks and green spaces. It also offers an opportunity to meet and connect with other individuals for those who might be socially isolated.
I became a volunteer when I retired from work, as I was used to being around people. I had also just moved to Walsall, and it was a great way for me to put down roots within my new community and get to know the local area.
I’d encourage anyone who’s interested in joining a group walk (or in becoming a volunteer) to come along and get involved! We welcome and encourage all walkers, no matter their age, gender or ability. “
ENDS
Notes to editors:
- Keep Britain Tidy is a leading environmental charity who set the standard for the management of parks and beaches, inspire people to be litter-free, to waste less and to live more sustainably. They run campaigns and programmes including the Great British Spring Clean, Eco-Schools, Love Parks, Eco-Schools, the Green Flag Award for parks and green spaces and the Blue Flag/ Seaside Awards for beaches. Find out more about Keep Britian Tidy.
- The Green Flag Award Scheme is run by the environmental charity Keep Britain Tidy, under licence from the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, in partnership with Keep Scotland Beautiful, Keep Wales Tidy and Keep Northern Ireland Beautiful. Find out more about the Green Flag Award Scheme.
- Walsall’s 2023 Green Flag Award recipients are Barr Beacon, Blackwood Park, Fibbersley Local Nature Reserve, Kings Hill Park, Palfrey Park, Rough Wood Local Nature Reserve, Walsall Arboretum and Willenhall Memorial Park.
- Find out more about Walsall's parks and green spaces
- Find out more about Love Parks Week
- Leeds University's guidance on how to make parks safer for women and girls
- Volunteer in Walsall's parks and green spaces
