It seems perfect
timing that to mark welovebearwood’s 500th posting that we can
celebrate Warley Woods Community Trust’s 10th anniversary. Happy 10th
Birthday Warley Woods!
After the
celebrations with lots of bubbly and very happy smiley faces yesterday
afternoon, Viv Cole, Warley Woods Trust Manager told us why this is such a
momentous occasion especially as it hasn’t always felt like a walk in the park.
Viv said..."The Community Trust is really pleased
that on 1st April we celebrated 10 years of managing Warley Woods.
The lease for the site was finally signed back in April 2004 after 7 years of
discussions with both Birmingham City Council and Sandwell MBC.
Since then the Trust has been
actively improving the physical state of the site and organising events and
activities to ensure that more local people will be able to enjoy the beautiful
green space in many different ways. The Trust has over 800 members and last
year over 400 people volunteered at Warley Woods – giving their time, so that
the site can keep giving back to everyone who visits.
The site has been awarded Green Flag
for the last five years and in 2011 and 2012 it came second in the public vote
for the UK’s favourite green space. The Trust was the first charity of its kind
to take on the running of an urban park and its survival has never been
guaranteed. It has taken hard work and persistence through the 10 years to
continually improve and thrive.”
Viv told us to keep a close eye on Warley Woods calendar as there will be lots of special activities throughout the year to celebrate their 10th birthday
Warley Woods Milestones include:
2004 Took on management of
Warley Woods park and golf course
2006 Centenary events with
schools
2006 Publication of the Trust’s
first book
2006 Began delivery of
regeneration through Heritage Lottery Project (HLF)
2006 Created new children’s play
area
2006 New park sculptures
2006 Stride healthy walks start
in the Woods
2007 Completed £1,000,000 HLF
Project to time and to budget pathways, benches, bins, fencing, treeworks,
signage
2008 Buggyfit comes to Warley
Woods
2008 New swings for young people
2008 Tree trail leaflet
2008 Pavilion building now fully
accessible with new toilets, boiler and windows
2009 History trail leaflet and
signage
2009 Restoration of Edwardian
Drinking Fountain
2009 Trust Membership reaches
800
2009 First golf summer school –
free for children from Sandwell
2009 Green Flag Award
2009 New perimeter path around
golf course
2009 Virgin Trains sponsors
Santa in the Woods
2009 Kickstart Bootcamp comes to
Warley Woods
2010 The Wilderness Opened to
the public
2010 Theatre in the Woods for
the first time
2011 (and 2012) Silver Medal in
the People’s Choice Award for green spaces
2011 Volunteers now number over
400
2012 Events calendar lists over 20
events to take place in the year
2012 Warley Woods Pacers
(running club) affiliated to England Athletics
2014 Viv Cole, Trust Manager,
celebrates raising £1,000,000 for the Trust
2014 10th
Birthday Celebrations
Well done Warley Woods.
Here’s to another great 10 years and many more to come!
No comments:
Post a Comment