Park picks up award for investing in volunteers

Lagan Valley Regional Park was accredited with the '˜Investing in Volunteers' award at a recent Mayoral Reception.
Pictured with the Mayor, Councillor Brian Bloomfield MBE and Councillor Tim Morrow, Chairman of the Council's Leisure & Community Development Committee are Dr Andy Bridge, Lagan Valley Regional Park Manager, Jenny Palmer MLA and the volunteers who made achieving the Investing in Volunteers Award possible.Pictured with the Mayor, Councillor Brian Bloomfield MBE and Councillor Tim Morrow, Chairman of the Council's Leisure & Community Development Committee are Dr Andy Bridge, Lagan Valley Regional Park Manager, Jenny Palmer MLA and the volunteers who made achieving the Investing in Volunteers Award possible.
Pictured with the Mayor, Councillor Brian Bloomfield MBE and Councillor Tim Morrow, Chairman of the Council's Leisure & Community Development Committee are Dr Andy Bridge, Lagan Valley Regional Park Manager, Jenny Palmer MLA and the volunteers who made achieving the Investing in Volunteers Award possible.

The award was presented by Sandra Adair, Director of Volunteer Now Enterprises Ltd.

Hosting the reception, Mayor of Lisburn and Castlereagh, Councillor Brian Bloomfield, congratulated the staff and volunteers at the park.

“This is a fantastic achievement for Lagan Valley Regional Park, which is described as a park with people at its heart,” he said.

“The strategic vision of the Park, which aims to include both the community and the work of volunteers, is essential in ensuring that it remains an area to be enjoyed by all.

“The Investing in Volunteers accreditation not only proves the effectiveness of the Regional Park’s work with volunteers, but is a great standard by which it can continue to improve the effectiveness of the work Lagan Valley Regional Park does with volunteers and is a real boost to an organisation’s reputation.”

The accreditation, a recognised benchmark for the quality of volunteer management and involvement, was first awarded to Volunteering in the Lagan Valley Regional Park through the Laganscape Project.

Dr Andy Bridge, Lagan Valley Regional Park Manager, added: “This is a great achievement for the Park and recognises the hard work and dedication of our small team of staff.

“Lagan Valley Regional Park’s volunteers are a great group of people from a range of backgrounds and abilities whose enthusiasm and help is a valuable asset to all our endeavours.”