Moston Vale fun day is top of the league in Harpurhey

Hundreds of people from Harpurhey and surrounding area are expected to turn out to this summer’s Moston Vale Fun Day on Church Lane, which takes place from 12pm to 4pm on Sunday 6th July.

Groundwork Manchester, Salford and Trafford have teamed up with the Forestry Commission, North Manchester Regeneration and Moston Valley Football Club to stage the action-packed community event and to promote the range of year-round activities now available at the site.

People will get a chance to take part in a mini Olympics and football training and put their navigation skills to the test in an orienteering race organised by Moston Valley Football Club and Sports Development. There will also be target practice, competitions and tombola. A trophy will be presented to Moston Valley’s Volunteer of the Year.

For those who want to try something more acrobatic, there will be a special circus skills workshop, including stilt walking, tightrope walking and sessions on how to juggle a diabolo, using the sticks and string.

A range of other family activities will be on offer, including face painting, arts and crafts, live music and story telling.

Andy Glover, Community Forester for the Forestry Commission at Moston Vale, says:

“The Moston Vale Fun Day is a great way for local people to come together, make new friends and enjoy the range of recreational activities now on offer at the Moston Vale community woodland.

“We’re looking forward to welcoming as many people as possible on the day and hope it will be the biggest and best event yet.”

£2.1 million of funding has been invested into the Moston Vale community woodland via the Northwest Regional Development Agency (NWDA) and Forestry Commission land regeneration programme, ‘Newlands’. The investment, which has been used to transform the site from underused brownfield in 2005 and 2006 is also funding the Forestry Commission’s long term management on the site.

A number of local partners, including Groundwork Manchester, Salford and Trafford, Red Rose Forest, Manchester City Council, the Irk Valley Project and Biffaward are also involved in Newlands.

Laura Jagota, Senior Community Link Officer for Groundwork Manchester, Salford and Trafford, says:

“The fun day is a chance to celebrate the hard work and dedication of the volunteers and young people at Moston Valley Football Club and we hope everyone will be out to support the club on the day.”

Moston Vale has been transformed from a derelict former landfill site into thriving community woodland, including family-friendly spaces, a new sports pitch and wildflower areas for everyone to enjoy.

Its development has included the remediation and re-landscaping of the site, the creation of extensive solar powered floodlit pathways, woodland areas, and sports facilities for local residents to enjoy.

Moston Valley Football Club now benefits from a new grass pitch and changing rooms on Moston Vale as part of Newlands.

The Newlands project is intended to drive significant added investment to the area; enhancing the adjacent Central Park Business Park and adding value to the local Housing Marketing Renewal Area.

Newlands is a £59million NWDA-funded land regeneration scheme, which is rejuvenating around 900 hectares of the region's brownfield land to encourage economic growth, while creating new opportunities for leisure and recreation. Newlands, which stands for New Economic Environments Through Woodlands, is a partnership scheme involving the NWDA and the Forestry Commission.

The Moston Vale project has also been funded by Biffaward, a multi-million pound environment fund managed by the Royal Society of Wildlife Trusts (RSWT), which utilises landfill tax credits donated by Biffa Waste Services.

Further information about Moston Vale and other Newlands sites is available at www.forestry.gov.uk/newlands

Ends

For further information please contact Paul Gardner or Jon Perkins at Osprey Communications on 015394-42436.

Notes to the Editors:

1. A selection of images from last year’s Moston Vale Fun Day is attached. Higher resolution versions are available by calling 015394-42436.

2. The Newlands long-term investment for Moston Vale is £2.1 million

3. Moston Vale is community woodland created through a unique partnership of the NWDA and Forestry Commission as well as a range of delivery partners, including Groundwork Manchester, Salford and Trafford, Red Rose Forest, Manchester City Council, the Irk Valley Project and Biffaward.

4. Community Woodlands are multi-purpose open spaces that can be easily accessed by the local community, and can include a series of small woodlands, footpaths, cycle and bridleways, football pitches, wetland habitats and a wildflower meadow. Each site is designed in partnership with the local community to help improve and enhance the economic, environmental and social value of the local neighbourhood to work towards a sustainable environment for everyone.

5. Woodland cover across the North West of England currently stands at just 6.5% compared with the national average of 8% and a European average of 33%.

6. The Forestry Commission is the largest provider of countryside recreation in Britain, with responsibility for more than one million hectares (2.4 million acres) of forest, woodlands and open countryside. Its North-West England Forest District covers the Lake District in Cumbria, the Forest of Bowland in Lancashire, Merseyside, Greater Manchester and Cheshire. The forests are managed for conservation, wildlife, landscape and recreation as well as providing a valuable source of timber.

Media enquiries to:

Call Andy Glover (Community Forester) on 07748180662 or 0161 2721806 or email andy.glover@forestry.gsi.gov.uk. Alternatively, contact Tim Oliver (New lands Project Manager) on 01524 565806 or 07771 806964 or email: tim.oliver@forestry.gsi.gov.uk

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