Seven years with TCV but no itch!

I have been involved, one way or another, with the Countess of Chester Country Park where I volunteer since it first became an idea in 2011. However, it wasn’t until 2017, three years after it officially opened, that I actively joined TCV as a volunteer. In those days the site was really just a blank canvas, a green space with a network of paths and partially restored hedges. The game changer that year was that it had been gifted an unwanted building by the nearby hospital which then became our Ranger Cabin. This was somewhere warm & dry to base ourselves and plot the future! I had also joined the Friends of the Park that year and my reason for also joining in with TCV activities was really just to support what they were doing. However, very quickly I realised that I loved working with the volunteer team and looked forward to Fridays when we would crack on with all sorts of conservation tasks. As a retired teacher I also found that I could transfer my leadership skills to working with a very mixed group of fabulous people and moved from being a key worker to being a Volunteer Officer. The Friends group meanwhile had lots of ideas of things they’d like to see happening to improve the park beyond just being a green space and they quickly realised that working in partnership with TCV gave them the opportunity to realise these. By now I was Chair of the Friends group and had formed a firm personal and professional friendship with Neil McMahon, the Park’s Ranger and TCV Senior Project Officer, we were an example of where 1+1=3. Funding has always been an issue for the Countess Country Park but between TCV and the Friends we’ve been able to work miracles and have won so many awards. The attached photo showcases just how far the TCV volunteers have come in just seven years, the cabin is now covered in award plaques and the notice board is full of community activities which are available. This year the Countess of Chester Country Park will be officially ten years old and I have to say that, after seven years of volunteering in it, I have no ‘itch’ to move on – working with TCV and the best bunch of people you could ever wish to meet is part of my life now.