Belper Parks Volunteers has now been established for over four and a half years (as of Christmas 2022) and we are still going strong. Over 30 different people have volunteered with us at some point, and we have a core of over a dozen who attend tasks regularly, which are held fortnightly between 9 and 11am, usually on the 1^st and 3^rd Saturday of the month. 

We have averaged around 500 hours of volunteer work each year.

During Covid, when it was permitted to have tasks, we achieved record turnouts, with over a dozen volunteers at most tasks and a record of 17 on one occasion. The work we do still focusses on controlling bramble and bracken encroachment into wildflower meadow areas and paths, litter picking, improving wildflower areas by targeted scything and seeding, controlling Himalayan Balsam along the Coppice Brook, and of course socialising. 

Many members of the public who walk in Belper Parks stop to thank us for the work we do and say how much better the area is now. The Britain in Bloom judge commented favourably on Belper Parks after it was included in the judging route in 2021, and Officers at Amber Valley Borough Council have expressed their gratitude for our good work.

We are at a stage now when it is very important to identify what not to do! The area is a Local Nature Reserve and is home to a wide range of invertebrates, small mammals, and birds. Overgrown and areas that look unkempt can be very important habitat, so we must very carefully nurture these areas and only clear brambles etc. when essential, and plan to set aside selected areas of rough grass to cut only on a rotational basis.