People and communities
Walsall Council honours parks and green spaces volunteers with awards ceremony
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On 4 August 2023, Walsall Council held a special awards ceremony to honour the work of their dedicated Healthy Spaces volunteers, drawing the council’s Love Parks Week celebrations to a close.
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.
Held in the civic Council Chamber, the event was opened with a speech from the Mayor of Walsall and was also attended by Councillors Gary Flint, Garry Perry and Kerry Murphy.
The council’s Healthy Spaces team look after Walsall’s diverse array of parks and green spaces across the borough and rely heavily on a team of dedicated council volunteers, who perform a variety of different roles throughout the year.
Together, the Healthy Spaces volunteers help to ensure that local parks and green spaces are safe, clean and welcoming spaces for all to use and enjoy.
As part of the ceremony, several nominated individuals from the following groups received awards for their outstanding volunteering contributions to Walsall’s parks and green spaces:
Walsall Conversation Volunteers
Conservation volunteers contribute towards upkeep and maintenance of parks and green spaces to ensure they are neat, safe and accessible for all.
Walsall ‘Walk On’ Leaders
Weekly accessible community walks are led by walk leaders in parks and green spaces across the borough.
Friends of Parks groups
These groups help to organise regular activities and events for community members, whilst also carrying out regular maintenance, upkeep and improvement works.
Walsall Community Litter Watch
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.
Walsall Allotment Members
Volunteer committees manage 27 allotment sites across the borough. They also act as an intermediary between the council and allotment plot holders.
The winners of the volunteer awards were: Sue Cousins, Kerry Wilkinson, Luke Webster, Jack Plaza, Guy Fearenside, Yvette Rowley, Roy Collingwood, Julie Baker, Chris Jackson, Stephen Wood, Birchills agenda 21, Joy Wood, Paulette Williams-Jones, Stella Pettifer, Maz Noakes, Raj Khan, Elena Walton, Wendy Walker, Martyn Lever, Teresa Webb, Malcolm Ratledge, Lisa Griffiths, David Blackwell and John Madge.
“ It’s fantastic to be able to celebrate and recognise the dedication, commitment and hard work of our Healthy Spaces volunteers. Without them, we simply wouldn't be able to offer such well-kept beautiful parks and green spaces throughout our borough.
“Our volunteers are also responsible for organising lots of the regular outdoor activities that the council has to offer, which are so valuable to the health and wellbeing of our communities and residents and we’re so thankful to them for the work they do. “
“ Volunteering benefits both those who receive the support and those who offer their time and skills. It's an excellent way to give back to society, contribute to meaningful causes, and improve one's overall well-being.
Those who volunteer have such a positive impact on the work of the Healthy Spaces Team to bring about change within our communities. This awards ceremony presents an opportunity to celebrate this collaboration and highlight the work that is achieved by our dedicated team of Healthy Spaces volunteers. “
Notes to editors:
- 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. Find out more about Love Parks Week.
- 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
- To book a green space activity, event, room or sports pitch, or to find out more about Healthy Spaces work across parks and green spaces, email HealthySpaces@walsall.gov.uk or on 01922 650465
- Find out more about becoming a Healthy Spaces volunteer
- Find out what's on offer in Walsall's parks and green spaces
