Entrances and pathways will be replaced or renewed, enabling visitors to explore new areas and make better use of the park. Unsurfaced paths, which get muddy in wet weather, will be given hard surfacing. This will enable pushchair and wheelchair users to make better use of the park at all times of year. The entrance from Childwall Valley Road will be made accessible to people with wheelchairs and mobility scooters for the first time in years.

New signs will guide people into the park and wildflowers will be introduced to new and existing areas either side of the main drive.

Rita Walker, Chair of the Friends said: ‘This is a great opportunity to improve our park and make it even more enjoyable to visitors.’

David Hammond, the group’s Community Spaces facilitator said: ‘Court Hey is already a fantastic park to visit. The dedication of the Friends in getting this funding means that more people will be able to come and enjoy it in all weathers.’

Launch Event 14th September 2011

The Pathways Project Launch event was a great success!
The event was planned by the Friends of Court Hey Park with the support of Knowsley Council and the National Wildflower Centre to celebrate the improvements to the pathway and entrances to the park. The Mayor of Knowsley, Councillor Christine O’Hare and her husband attended the event. The improvements were funded by the Big Lottery's Community Spaces fund through its Awards Partner Groundwork UK £50,000 had been allocated to this project including the launch event.

100 local schoolchildren from St Paschal Baylon Catholic Primary School, St Margaret Mary’s Catholic Junior School and Malvern Primary School planted bulbs, seeds and wildflower plants in areas of the park supervised by very helpful staff from the National Wildflower Centre. The day stayed mainly dry with the odd shower which was no problem for the children as they busily went about their work. After lunch the children were then treated to fun activities such as face painting, circus skills, card making and storytelling. The Friends would like to thank the children and all those that made this event possible and we are looking forward to using our new pathways!

Pictures of this event can be viewed on our Flickr page.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/courtheypark2/

Community Spaces Blog

http://blog.community-spaces.org.uk/2011/09/23/making-our-space-special/

A ‘Heritage and Health’ leaflet will be produced and will be available to help park users take a walking tour to explore the history of the park.

The Friends would like to thank Knowsley Council and Community Spaces staff for their support with the application.

Community Spaces is a £57.5m open grants programme funded through the Big Lottery Fund and managed by Groundwork UK

Press Release

Community Spaces  web site

Groundwork UK  web site

Big Lottery Fund  web site