Friends of Ladybrook Valley receive donation from United Utilities

A local Stockport volunteer group, the Friends of Ladybook Valley has received a valuable boost to their community clean-up and conservation efforts, courtesy of a donation from United Utilities.

The group, based in Bramhall, Stockport, is a small voluntary organisation working to improve the local beauty spot and nature reserve.  After years of feeling frustrated with the declining state of Happy Valley - which forms part of Ladybrook Valley - a team of regulars got together to form Friends of Ladybrook Valley to ensure the continued care and maintenance of the area and waterways.

Since then, Happy Valley has been transformed from a once neglected ‘wasteland’, to a thriving nature reserve, that has grown to become hugely popular, attracting visitors from in and around the area. Regular task days for the volunteers range from building fences to the removal of invasive plants from the river to ensure water health is maintained.

With the group solely relying on grants and funding, the volunteers were without the correct tools required to carry out their vital work and so enlisted the help of United Utilities, to provide them with the equipment they needed.

Volunteers met with River Rangers from the North West’s water company as they handed over the equipment. The donation consisted of items such as PPE, litter pickers, rakes, spades and wheelbarrows, so that the volunteers can continue and expand their efforts safely and efficiently.

Lynn Good, from Friends of Ladybrook Valley, commented: "Over the 29 years Friends of Ladybrook Valley have been caring for Bramhall’s Happy Valley our tools have become worn or broken. With no funding stream the group have found it difficult to replace equipment and have resorted to borrowing or asking volunteers to bring their own tools on task days.

The equipment United Utilities have donated to us ensures we can provide volunteers with the right tools and PPE for the work we do. The more specialised equipment will be especially useful for our wildflower meadow project and for helping us to maintain the willow spiling along the Lady Brook; stopping embankment erosion and keeping the river path open for the community to use and enjoy”

Shy Bayly, Area Engagement Lead for Greater Manchester at United Utilities, commented: “The team at Friends of Ladybrook Valley are extremely passionate about what they do and it’s encouraging to see the volunteers doing all they can to maintain and improve their area, not only for themselves but for the benefit of the environment and its wildlife - we’re really pleased to have been able to support the group with their ongoing efforts.”

The United Utilities’ Community Fund supports community groups whose activities:

• Benefit local watercourses and riverside environments
• Act as catalyst for improved community and environmental wellbeing
• Reconnect communities to riverside environments
• Promote sustainable drainage

Groups can apply to the fund for up to £2,500 worth of support by emailing:  Stakeholderrelations@uuplc.co.uk with details of their request.