Volunteers celebrate as Stanley Park visitor centre reopens

Four of the Friends of Stanley Park who volunteer in the centre from left Carol Lee, Lynn Patterson, Jacqui Veazey and Gill Howard.

Volunteers from the Friends of Stanley Park are back manning the council-owned centre while events and groups including the dog club are back in place.

The relaunch has been marked with an exhibition by the Blackpool Boys and Girls Club craft club with the centre open Thursday to Sunday.

The traditional Macmillan Coffee Morning will be held on the weekend of September 25 and 26, Blackpool Civic Trust art competition and exhibition from September 23, and events for Hallowe’en on October 30 and 31.

Nigel Patterson, chairman of the Friends of Stanley Park, said: “We are finally back after nearly 18 months.

“It has been a long hard pull to the new world but we are here now. We need to seize the opportunities it presents and make our organisation ready for the future and the inevitable challenges we will face.

“We need to look how we can do more to attract visitors to the park as well as serve our local community better .

“We have seen a huge growth in visitor numbers and need to build on this to ensure the park continues for the next 100 years and we leave a great positive legacy for the future by having a more vibrant Park community.”

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