Once a month the Friends of Peel Park and their passionate volunteers come together to clean up one of Salford’s most beloved public spaces.
Their aim is to keep Peel Park a clean and safe place for everyone to visit and to keep the park looking its best, to ensure people have the best experience when visiting.
The secretary of Friends of Peel Park, David Marsden, who has lived locally for just short of 10 years, said: “We love the park, I’m local to the park and this is my back garden.
“We are so passionate about this, and it gives me another focus and a diversion from a normal working week.”
Peel Park received significant funding from The National Lottery Heritage Fund in 2015 which helped transform it into the quality park it is today, and Marsden spoke passionately about keeping it in good condition after its development.
He said: “We are so lucky we’ve got such a beautiful park, but it needs looking after all the time. What’s the point in spending that money just to have an untidy park, nobody wants to walk through a park that’s full of rubbish and weeds, it makes it more enjoyable for everyone when it is clean and tidy.”
The park clean up consists of litter picking, weeding and sweeping to get the park clean and tidy to prepare it for the winter months.
It also is an opportunity for different people from the community to come together, meet new people and get involved in the park they love.
Marsden also spoke on the community aspect of the group, adding: “It’s a community, we have people who have made friends here and doing this helps give people a feeling of ownership of the park and a chance to be involved with the park.”
Salwa, a regular volunteer at the park since 2021 said being a part of this group especially helped her during Covid: “During the pandemic, I was working from home and coming to the park and meeting people was nice and benefit my wellbeing and mental health very much.
“I love to volunteer, and I started as I wanted to take care of my local park that I enjoy walking in and give back to the community, I find it is very self-rewarding.”
Anyone can become a volunteer; but they are looking to attract more students and Peel Park couldn’t be in a more convenient place for students to start helping after/before classes. Other events occurring in the park can be found through scanning in-park QR codes or on their social media channels.
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