Thanking our volunteers is a piece of cake

The tea party has been arranged by Cheltenham Borough Council’s green space development team to celebrate and thank the volunteers for the success of the work they have carried out over the last year.

The tea party is being held at Springbank Community Resource Centre the food is being supplied by The County Kitchen on Grosvenor Street in Cheltenham. Around 80 volunteers will be attending to enjoy a variety of cakes and teas and coffees, all kindly supplied by the café.

Last year, volunteers supported by the council’s community rangers put in over 2,000 hours and this year with new groups and more individuals wanting to do their bit it could be as much as 2,500 volunteer hours.
Volunteers do a fantastic job at helping the community rangers to maintain the parks and Leckhampton Hill. Over the past year they have worked on projects like clearing vegetation to expose the stone work of the bridges in Pittville Park, clearing overgrown shrub areas and planting spring flowering bulbs and primroses, clearing shrub from Leckhampton Hill to restore valuable grassland as well as ongoing maintenance work like litter picks.

Janice Peacey, community ranger: “We wanted to show our volunteers that all of their hard work, enthusiasm and effort is really valued by the council. At the end of each working party we say thank you to our volunteers but this tea party shows them how much they are valued.”

Cllr Chris Coleman, cabinet member for clean and green environment, added: “The volunteers that support us do an incredible job. It’s important to recognise the hard work they do and the tea party is a gesture of our appreciation.”

Richard Warwick, owner of The County Kitchen, commented: “The work the volunteers do to create and maintain the parks we all enjoy is so valuable. We are really pleased to be working in partnership with Cheltenham Borough Council to give them a treat in recognition of the work they do.”

If you would be interested in assisting the council’s green space development team as a volunteer please contact [email protected] or 01242 262626.

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For press enquiries contact: Kelly Carter, communications officer, telephone 01242 264154, email [email protected]

Photo opportunity: Thursday 15 October, the tea party will be held at Springbank Community Resource Centre from 1:30pm until 4:30pm. Address: Springbank Cottage Hope Orchard, Springbank Way, Cheltenham, Gloucestershire GL51 0LT.