Newark and Sherwood District Council hosted a celebration recognising the hard work of all those involved in maintaining local parks that were recently, once again, awarded Green Flag Awards.

The celebration took place at Sconce and Devon Park, Newark. Those in attendance included park rangers, local volunteers, groups of friends of parks, district council officers, leader of the council Coun David Lloyd, and Holy Trinity Catholic Academy pupils, whose school has recently been awarded with the Eco-Schools Green Flag, an award for forward-thinking schools which actively engaged in protecting the planet.

Newark Castle Gardens, Sconce and Devon Park, Vicar Water Country Park, and Sherwood Heath Cockglode and Rotary Woods were the four local parks included in the UK winners of the Green Flag Award for another year running.

This international award, which started back in 1997, is a sign to the public that the space holds the highest possible environmental standards, is beautifully maintained and has excellent visitor facilities. It also recognises the hard work of staff and volunteers in maintaining spaces that meet the needs of the local community.

Newark Castle and Gardens has also achieved the much-coveted Green Heritage Site Accreditation, an award supported by Historic England, for the management of its historic features.

Coun Lloyd said: “It is a pleasure to be here and see hard work being celebrated.

“Park rangers, Street Scene staff, our Corporate Property team and site managers to the incredible groups of Friends and volunteers are all responsible for this achievement. Our parks are beautiful green spaces for all to enjoy, and it is important to recognise that without their efforts we would not have the award-winning parks we are so lucky to have on our doorstep.”

Along with Leader of Newark and Sherwood District Council, Coun Lloyd, and pupils from Holy Trinity Catholic Academy, the flag was raised by one of Sconce and Devon’s local volunteers, George Smith. George has been volunteering at Sconce and Devon for many years and his continued commitment towards creating a greener Newark and Sherwood is a fantastic achievement.

The Volunteering Team at Sconce and Devon said: “As a volunteer at Sconce & Devon Park it is a pleasure to contribute to maintaining the park and creating an area that promotes wellbeing within the local and wider communities.

“The work is varied and fun and promotes a team spirit within the volunteers with a lot of thanks from the friends and park users. Feeling part of a team and being welcomed as part of the park by the ranger leads us to add ideas and able to take on a various mix of learning and seasonal activities. The latest addition of creating a learning zone with the creation of growing for the local community has been an uplifting sense of community spirit from the volunteering team. We would welcome more members to come and join us.”

The Green Flag Award scheme, managed by environmental charity Keep Britain Tidy under licence from the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, recognises and rewards well-managed parks and green spaces, setting the benchmark standard for the management of green spaces across the United Kingdom and around the world.

A full list of the 2,208 Green Flag Award-winning parks and green spaces is available here

Find out more about Newark and Sherwood’s parks and volunteering on the District Council website: https://www.newark-sherwooddc.gov.uk/parksandgardens/.