Community Champions visit to Buile Hill Park

On Sunday 7th November six of our Community Champions, accompanied by Salford CVS staff, spent the morning at Buile Hill Park visiting two of the brilliant projects situated in the park.

Although it was a windy day and a little cold we wrapped up warm and met at the park at 10am. Some of us have met a few times on Zoom but for most of us, it was the first time we have met in person so it was a great opportunity to connect with each other.

Our first stop was to meet Jenni, from the Friends of Buile Hill Mansion Association. Jenni told us about the group and what they are aiming to do with the gardens and the mansion. She introduced us to some of the volunteers who were busy digging and making flower beds for roses to be planted, raking leaves and tidying the raised beds. She then introduced us to Pete, a Horticulturalist, who volunteers with the group. He told us in more detail about the sensory garden they are working on and talked us through one of the raised beds dedicated to the sense of smell. He gave us a hands on experience, encouraging us to pick the herbs and smell them while he gave information about their origins and history. It was great to learn about how the garden will be used for education, enjoyment and bringing people together.

It was great to see so many volunteers at the project. One volunteer told us that she really liked coming and giving something back to the community. She works in an office and said how much she loves getting outside and helping in the gardens. 

We finished with Jenni showing us a tree that had been cut down and made into a beautiful carved seating area along with the small carved statues that can be seen throughout the park. 

About 11am we walked over to visit Growing Togetherness CIC who are based in the Pavilion. We met Mark who gave us an overview of the project and the allotments.  Mark then set us a team building exercise which we were not allowed to use talking as communication. We completed the task with no talking but lots of waving of hands and lots of laughter. We then did some volunteering with some of the tasks at the allotments.  We planted some garlic bulbs and moved woodchips from the top of the allotments down to the planting beds. Mark also set us a task to encourage us to get to know each other It gave us a great chance to have conversations and again, we did lots of laughing. 

We finished our session there at 12.30pm with brews and biscuits at the café. We had a warm up and a rest and felt suitably satisfied with our efforts. 

We had a wonderful time at both of these projects, we loved chatting and connecting and seeing the beautiful park. It has given us all a first-hand experience of the opportunities and places to visit that are on our doorstep as well as the wonderful benefits that being outside in nature and connecting with others can bring. 

The Community Champions is a new project for Salford CVS. Our Champions come from across the city and we have various themes and activities that they can get involved in such as the Environment, Health and Wellbeing and Equality, Diversity and Inclusion. If you would like to know more, please contact Jane Williams at Salford CVS who will be happy have a chat with you. You can contact Jane on 0161 787 7795 or email Jane.williams@salfordcvs.co.uk

If you would like to join any of the activities from Buille Hill Mansion Association or Growing Togetherness you can find their details below. You can contact both groups directly if you would like to get involved with their projects.