Ulley Country Park tree sculpture takes root to help mark volunteers’ environmental achievements

A striking new sculpture that will form the centrepiece of anniversary celebrations at a South Yorkshire country park next year has been put in place by a local volunteer group.

The Friends of Ulley Country Park used a £7,000 grant from the community benefits fund linked to OnPath Energy’s nearby Penny Hill Wind Farm to help commission local artist Coralie Turpin to create the 2m-tall ‘In The Trees’ sculpture, which stands close to the park’s open-air theatre space, The Spillway.

The project is designed to celebrate the Friends group’s achievements since its formation in 2006 and to heighten park visitors’ awareness of the significant role played by hundreds of committed volunteers in safeguarding and improving the environment around them.

In The Trees’  shape has been based around the silver birches in the surrounding park, with a golden sun shining through, while it also features the inspirational poem Think Like A Tree by American poet Karen Shragg.

The sculpture will play an integral part in the Friends’ 20^th anniversary celebrations next year, which will also include an exhibition and a range of musical and stage performances.

The group has received several grants from the Penny Hill Wind Farm community benefits fund over the last decade in support of a range of different projects.

These include the restoration of a long-neglected bird feeding area at the Morthen end of the park, the installation of carved benches, interpretation boards, noticeboards and a bird-feeding plinth, poetry posts which feature poems written by local children about the surrounding environment and repairs to several stone walls around the park

Located to the south east of Rotherham, the 19-hectare Ulley Country Park includes over 12 hectares of water and contains a variety of other habitats, including woodland, grassland, arable land and gorse scrub which host many types of plants, insects, wildfowl and animals.

It is also an established venue for angling and water sports, as well as home to Ulley Sailing Club.

The Friends Of Ulley Country Park has around 250 members, with a 15-strong committee and core group of around 50 volunteers who carry out a range of maintenance and fundraising activities through the year, including monthly Sunday cafe days in the visitors’ centre.

The group was set up to protect and enhance the park’s natural environment by helping to look after amenities, heritage, wildlife and habitats, and we see the impact of our work every time we come here.”

Chair Diane Haswell

Chair Diane Haswell says: “Hundreds of local people have been involved with this work over almost two decades and we wanted a way to mark their contributions to the park’s well-being, as well as to add something to the area that will grab the interest and attention of visitors for years to come.

“We felt choosing the shape of a tree would be symbolic of the work that our members have done to protect the environment and provide a meeting place for friends, families and stranger alike, and we’re really pleased with how eye-catching the final design looks within the beautiful environment that we have here.

“The feedback we’ve had so far from park visitors has been very positive and we’re now well on with finalising our anniversary celebrations programme for next year, which will include an official unveiling event.

“The long-term support that our work has had from the Penny Hill Wind Farm Community Fund has been absolutely invaluable and it’s often been the catalyst, as it is in this instance, for taking projects forward that would otherwise simply not have happened.”

OnPath Energy’s Penny Hill Wind Farm Community Fund is ring-fenced for use within the parishes of Aston, Thurcroft, Treeton, Ulley and Whiston, and is designed to make a positive, long-term difference to voluntary groups, environmental projects and community facilities in these areas.

Tom Chaplin, partnership and community manager at OnPath Energy, adds: “It’s great to see how well the Friends have used the funding that the Penny Hill Wind Farm has provided over the years and how much of a positive impact it’s had on the local area, which is exactly what we designed it to do from the start.”

“The enduring commitment of so many local people to safeguarding this beautiful place deserves proper recognition and we’re very pleased to be helping to deliver this through this striking artwork.”

Environmental and community projects in the vicinity of the Penny Hill Wind Farm which are interested in applying to its community fund should first contact the fund manager via apply@onpathcommunityfund.co.uk or on 0191 378 6342 to confirm that their group or project is eligible.