Index

Calderglen Country Park lies on the boundary of the New Town of East Kilbride. The park plays a very important role within the community, providing an important natural environment for formal and informal recreation. The Visitor Centre, Café, Floral Conservatory, Peace Garden (which has a wide range of animals and birds within its Children's Zoo) attract many thousands of visitors, and the many off road trails provide easy access to the countryside for casual and formal recreation. The park also boasts a BBQ area, and able bodied/disabled play area. Early in 2008, East Kilbride Rotary Club made contact with the Local Authority, South Lanarkshire Council, and their Countryside Ranger Service, as it had been suggested that the Rotary Club could perhaps form a Volunteer Group to help with some maintenance work within the Country Park as part of their Service in the Community.

From the outset, the Ranger Service were enthusiastic about forming a partnership with the Club and a meeting with members of the Club and the Park Ranger Service was quickly arranged. At that meeting, a range of maintenance tasks that were necessary, but because of staff shortages, would not be tackled were quickly identified. This, therefore, formed the basis for the volunteer group. From April to September, a group of eight Rotarians met with the senior park ranger and his staff on Saturday mornings once a month. At the outset a proposed work programme was discussed and agreed and this has been largely completed. Some of the work undertaken was installing benches, cleaning vegetation from paths and steps, litter collection and re-establishing path drainage.

Many favourable comments were received by the Head Ranger on the improvement to path surfaces and the general improvement of trails following the Rotary involvement. The Countryside Ranger Service were happy to provide a report which sets out their objectives in relation to the maintenance and access to the local countryside, much of which will be addressed by the actions of the Club during this ongoing community project.

Over the period of this initiative, the Club have received press coverage in the local paper, the District Magazine and internally within South Lanarkshire Council. It is our intention to further expand the scheme in 2009 to include other local groups and the students from an adjacent secondary school as a demonstration of community involvement and service.