Call for volunteers to help restore Great Yarmouth's Venetian Waterways

Great Yarmouth Borough Council is working closely with Great Yarmouth Preservation Trust and the community on a flagship £2.7m project to restore the Grade II-listed Venetian Waterways on the seafront, including the Boating Lake.

The project aims to involve the community in enhancing and interpreting a unique community facility, tourist attraction and heritage asset, supporting the local economy, boosting civic pride and providing people with meaningful opportunities to improve skills and access further training or employment.

Thanks to £1.7m grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund/Big Lottery Fund Parks for People Programme, plus further support from New Anglia LEP and the Department for Communities and Local Government, the important preparatory is well underway, with contractors expected to start on-site landscaping and engineering works this spring.

In the meantime, Alison Hall has started as project coordinator and is actively seeking expressions of interest from people to volunteer in a range of roles between this summer and summer 2019:

• Research and interpretation - Volunteers will take part in workshops with BBC Our Voices to record people's memories of the Waterways, which will be archived for posterity and also played on "listening posts" at the restored attraction.
• Gardening - Volunteers will take ownership of six of the Waterway's islands to reinstate the original and beautiful planting scheme, dating from 1928.
• Carpentry and thatching - There are opportunities for volunteers and trainees to work alongside specialists to repair the characteristic rusticated thatched shelters and bridges.

Alison said: "We have some really exciting, varied and unusual volunteering opportunities, which offer the chance to meet new people, learn new skills, have fun and make new memories, while contributing to a lasting legacy for Great Yarmouth. Regardless of your current skills or how much time you can give, please do get in touch as we have something suitable for you and will provide full support."

Alison is no stranger to Great Yarmouth or its unique heritage, having spent the last eight and a half years as the exhibitions coordinator at Time and Tide Museum, where she ran the temporary exhibitions, most recently the Titanic exhibition and Only in England photography exhibition. Before that she was part of the front of house team at Norwich Castle Museum, leading talks and tours.

Alison, who lives in Great Yarmouth, said: "I have a real passion for Great Yarmouth's rich cultural heritage. When working on temporary exhibitions, you are always making something that's really transient. This is an opportunity to work on something that is truly unique and has a lasting legacy and impact for the borough."

To register an interest in becoming a volunteer, visit our website.

Cllr Barry Coleman, chairman of the economic development committee, said: "The project is moving ahead quickly and we're really pleased to be at the point of seeking volunteers. There are so many memories already connected with the Waterways, and through its renewal and the involvement of volunteers we hope to create new memories."

Bernard Williamson, chairman of Great Yarmouth Preservation Trust, said: "The Waterways and Boating Lake were built by local people so it's fitting that the community are central to their renewal. This is an opportunity to be part of Great Yarmouth's history - something to tell your children and grandchildren - so don't miss out."

On-site preparatory work underway

The project will restore the original planting scheme from 1928. Ahead of the start of restoration works to the gardens, GYB Services Ltd, the borough council's operational partner, is currently preparing the site by removing much of the existing planting, which is not in keeping with the original scheme.

The willow and some of the trees will remain, as well as the euonymus hedges which are survivors from the original scheme. This work needs to be completed now, before the start of the bird-nesting season. Removed plants will be reused, where possible, at other green spaces in the borough.