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The Garden Room at Wepre Park Visitor Centre

Published: 22/07/2015

The Heritage Lottery Funded (HLF) extension to the Wepre Park Visitor Centre was opened recently by the Vice Chair of Flintshire County Council Peter Curtis and Cllr Gill Faulkner Chair of Connahs Quay Town Council. The Garden Room as the extension will be known is a much needed educational and community resource for the park and local people. The room looks out on to the old formal gardens of Wepre Hall which will be fully restored as part of the project. The new space will provide both a classroom and meeting space for a variety of groups and will be available to hire out. The £583,400 grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund Parks for People programme has enabled a package of much needed improvements across the park including new fencing and footpaths, a programme of heritage themed educational activities for school visits and support for the current Friends of Wepre Park volunteer group with training opportunities in conservation and horticultural skills, as well as restoration of the Old Hall Pleasure gardens and interpretation to help local people and visitors explore the story of the Park, Old Hall Gardens and Ewloe Castle. Cllr. Bernie Attridge, Cabinet Member for environment said, I am delighted with development of this wonderful new facility that I am sure will be enjoyed by many people and will complement the other marvellous resources visitors to Wepre Park already enjoy. The gardens, when restored, will also bring back to life a vital part of this historic and much loved area of Connahs Quay. Richard Bellamy, Head of HLF in Wales said, “We are fortunate in Wales to have some fantastic public parks. They are places that everybody can visit and enjoy. However, as detailed in our State of UK Public Parks report, it has become clear that public parks across the UK are at risk from budget cuts. We are therefore very pleased to see that HLF funding for Wepre Park is helping the park return to its former glory, once again being a community asset, essential to the local economy and public health and wellbeing.” Tom Woodall Head of Flintshire Countryside Service said: It is a fantastic addition to the facilities at Wepre Park and we look forward to seeing the Garden Room being used by a wide range of groups. Note to editors: About the Heritage Lottery Fund: From the archaeology under our feet to the historic parks and buildings we love, from precious memories and collections to rare wildlife, we use National Lottery players money to help people across the UK explore, enjoy and protect the heritage they care about. The Heritage Lottery Fund is the UK’s largest dedicated funder of heritage: · It invests around £430million a year on a broad range of projects - from museums, parks and historic places to archaeology, natural environment and cultural traditions · HLF has supported just over 38,000 projects allocating more than £6.6billion across the UK since the establishment of the Lottery in 1994 · In Wales HLF has invested over £323million and supported over 2,300 projects in local communities all over the country. · Visit the website www.hlf.org.uk or follow HLF on Twitter @HLFCymru The Parks for People programme uses Lottery funds to support the regeneration, conservation and increased enjoyment of public parks and the conservation of cemeteries. The programme aims to improve the local environment and put parks firmly back at the heart of community life. HLF is continuing to fund public park projects in 2015/16 with an investment of £34.7m. The next closing date for applications is 1 September 2015. See www.hlf.org.uk for details.