Five go volunteering!

19 March 2026

Well, technically there were 10 people in 5 caravans and 2 dogs!!

For many years, a working party of Derbyshire Centre members have given up their time to volunteer at the Carsington Waters club site  to help prepare the site for opening.  Having been closed throughout the winter, the site needs some TLC to get it in tip-top condition before the season starts. 

This year was my first year joining the working party and I thought I would do a quick blog about it. 

So what did we do? 

The first job was to rake pine-needles off all the pitches.  As there are nearly 100 hardstanding gravel pitches, this is no mean feat, but luckily this year the site wasn’t quite so swamped (possibly due to last year’s very dry summer).  The 2 play-ground areas were jet-washed and the play equipment scrubbed clean.  Every electricity bollard was scrubbed clean, gas tanks jet-washed, gutters cleared and moss removed from block-paving.  The white road markings and steps to the dog walk were refreshed.  Repairs were made to the dog walk steps and brambles and holly leaves cleared from the dog walk paths.  The bark chippings were topped up at the entrance and on the paths through the grassed areas and all large fallen branches removed throughout the site.  The garden area at the entrance was tidied up and planters were spruced up with some colourful primulas.   

There were lots of other jobs carried out.  Lots of little jobs that might go unnoticed by those visiting the site, but perhaps would be spotted if they hadn’t been done?

Our tea breaks were akin to a cake-tasting session with a variety of bakes being shared and on our last full day on site we had a pub lunch with the wardens.  The most important thing was that working as a team we had a lot of fun and laughter and the site looks fantastic. 

Same again next year?

Denise

Chair