![\"Laura](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/0_Laura-Prior-Chair-of-Friends-of-Princes-Park-Photo-by-Colin-Lane.jpg\")
Laura and her team of volunteers meet every two weeks to make sure the park continues to look its best(Image: Colin Lane\/Liverpool Echo)<\/p>\nA team of dedicated volunteers meet every fortnight to help maintain the upkeep of the parkLaura and her team of volunteers meet every two weeks to make sure the park continues to look its best(Image: Colin Lane\/Liverpool Echo)<\/p>\n
For the last two decades a group of dedicated volunteers have taken time out of their Sunday mornings to help make sure Princes Park in L8 is looking its best for the thousands visiting every weekend.<\/p>\n
Back in 2004, a group of residents in the surrounding streets came together to form the Friends of Princes Park<\/a>, a charity and voluntary group who meet every other Sunday morning to carry out a whole host of tasks to help maintain the upkeep of the park. Since then, the volunteers have carried out a regular schedule of caring for the park’s wildlife as well as hosting open invites to walks and picnics.<\/p>\n In recent years, local resident Laura Prior has chaired the Friends of Princes Park Committee, overseeing the group’s activities. While she predominantly does a lot of the “back of house” administrative running of the charity, she also joins fellow volunteers every other Sunday as they carry out their tasks in the park.<\/p>\n She told the ECHO<\/a>: “It’s a volunteer group that meets every other Sunday for four hours to do work in the park, we do everything from tree planting to tree maintenance to cutting back brambles and litter picking, and just little things around the park which requires a little bit more TLC than the council might be able to give.”<\/p>\n While many are enjoying their weekends, Laura and her team of local residents come together to begin their fortnightly tasks around the south Liverpool park. She said: “I usually get to the big shipping container at about 10am and get all the tools out, wheelbarrows, everyone gets high-vis and we do all the safety introductions for anyone that is new.”<\/p>\n She added: “Me, Liz, Katie and Dave do a lot of planning in the background during the week, particularly Katie and Liz, who are retired, when they’re walking around the park, they’ll see things ‘we need to fix this cage, we need to deal with that’.<\/p>\n “We’ll have a big to do list and we’ll brief everyone and then we’ll set off and split into groups, there’ll be some more experienced people who can help less experienced people and people can do whatever they feel comfortable with.”<\/p>\n She added: “Some people just like to go off litter picking by themselves and kind of go at their own pace, some people really like doing the more physical stuff. Then, we usually break at half past 12 for half an hour and people might bring some cakes, so there’s a really nice element of sharing and having a chance to socialise. After lunch we get back on it and finish off what we have been doing.”<\/p>\n After taking over as chair of the committee three years ago, Laura cast her mind back to one of the group’s biggest achievements since she began.<\/p>\n She said: “I think one of the biggest improvements in the park, and this was just as I had joined the group, but the lake was broken, there was an issue with the borehole and the volume of water in the lake was really low for a long time and all the birds were dying of botulism because of it.<\/p>\n “But, through a collaboration with Mandela 8, and some funding that they got, they fixed that and the lake since then has been at the right level and the birds have come back.”<\/p>\n She also feels the group’s hard work has paid off as she said the park’s rise in popularity is evident. She said: “It’s so important for the health and wellbeing of everybody in the area, physically, mentally, socially there’s lots of things that go on there.<\/p>\n “There’s people walking their dogs and taking their kids [there], so I think it’s amazing now, the way that it is. I think it is starting to draw people on its own merits, it’s not just this kind of forgotten park that’s near to Sefton Park<\/a>, I think people now go there intentionally to see some of the things that it has to offer.”<\/p>\n While she is enormously proud of the vast work the group has carried out over the last few years, it’s the impact it has on volunteers which gives her the greatest sense of satisfaction.<\/p>\n![\"Friends](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/0_Friends-of-Princes-Park-in-Princes-Park-Toxteth-this-afternoon.jpg\")
The group carry out a number of gardening tasks(Image: Liverpool Echo)<\/p>\n![\"Friends](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/1767701180_730_0_Friends-of-Princes-Park-in-Princes-Park-Toxteth-this-afternoon.jpg\")
The group was first formed in 2004(Image: Liverpool Echo)<\/p>\n
![\"Princes](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/0_Princes-Park-Toxteth-Liverpool-Photo-by-Colin-Lane.jpg\")
Princes Park is one of the most popular in Liverpool(Image: Colin Lane\/Liverpool Echo)<\/p>\n