Marie first got involved with Friends of Chances Park in Carlisle last year after hearing about a wildflower planting day.

Marie was going through a period of change at the time. Her employer had recently altered her working hours from full-time to part-time and her daughter had left home to go to university, leaving “a bit of a void” in her life.

She saw this as an opportunity to do something that would help improve the local area and benefit her community.

“I was looking to do something positive with my life,” Marie said. “I've always enjoyed spending time with people, meeting people and also helping nature. I saw this as an ideal opportunity.”

Marie loved the sense of achievement that came from creating something for the community to enjoy, but sadly, the turnout for the planting day was not great. The same was true for the Friends of Chances Park meetings which took place four times a year.

“It got to the point where there weren't many people going to the meetings and it may have folded,” Marie said.

Shortly after joining the group, the chair announced they would be stepping down. The vice-chair took her place and Marie was asked to step in as vice-chair. Initially, she lacked confidence and worried if she had enough knowledge or experience.

“I said to them that I don’t feel like I know enough about the group, and I’ve never done anything like this before,” Marie said. “I told them I might want to do things that you don’t want to, but they said it’s good to have new ideas, so I ended up vice-chair.”

Building up confidence

Marie has jumped headfirst into the role since stepping in as vice-chair in January. She described it as a “learning curve”, but after a few months, she was already making some great progress.

She wasn’t afraid to set up meetings with key decision-makers in the area, including people from the Council. She asked what the group could do with the park and what they thought of her ideas. Marie presented her ideas to restore nature in the park and the council responded with enthusiasm.

This gave her the confidence to reach out to other organisations. She spoke to Cumbria Wildlife Trust and invited them to the park to give suggestions for boosting biodiversity.

Traditionally, the park was dominated by short, mown grass with a tiny section of garden. There are some trees but not many, so one of Marie’s first missions was to get more trees planted to create more habitats for wildlife.

She also wanted to create a wildlife pond but unfortunately, the council decided this would not be possible due to health and safety concerns. Instead, they suggested a bog garden as the next best thing.

Marie then contacted the park maintenance manager to ask if more grass areas could be left to grow. He agreed and now leaves some areas of the park unmown.

Benefiting from businesses

Marie has also been proactive in approaching local businesses for support. Many companies are willing to contribute to a meaningful cause, so it is always worth an ask.

For Friends of Chances Park, a computer firm provided a laptop at cost price to replace the group’s broken computer. Marie also approached a local bank to see if they would consider supporting the group with trowels and gloves for planting.

Asda’s Community Champions programme provided additional equipment. Other businesses have provided hi-vis jackets, while a local community woodland has donated trees to plant in the park.

Next steps

Friends of Chances Park are currently working on getting funding for a labyrinth which the group estimates will cost £50,000. The project was set up by the former chair who is still involved and recently won a funding bid worth £20,000. Other smaller donations have taken them over the halfway mark!

The main challenge for Marie and the rest of the committee is spreading the word and getting new volunteers involved. Marie started regularly posting on the group’s Facebook page in February and has already seen a dramatic increase in their followers and reach.

Find out more about Friends of Chances Park on their Facebook page.