COMMUNITY-MINDED residents have been praised for their efforts in raking up mini-mountains of leaves in Stanhope Park.

A large number of residents local to the park met to carry out the third annual leaf gathering.

Armed with a variety of rakes and a lot of determination and enthusiasm, over 50 people of all ages spent several long hours gathering leaves from the park’s grassed areas and borders.

At the end of their labours there were mini mountains of leaves dotted around the park in readiness for collection by Darlington Borough Council the next day.

The annual community gathering was launched in 2013 in direct response to Council budget cuts. Without this community intervention, the grassed areas of Stanhope Park would eventually have died off through sunlight deprivation as successive years of non-clearance were creating an impenetrable barrier.

Thankfully since those intervening years, the grassed areas in Stanhope Park have shown a significant regeneration and this is very much down to the fantastic Community spirit that local residents to the Park have cultivated.

In addition to the leaf gathering, residents also carry out regular weekly litter sweeps to keep up the park’s appearance.

Residents Robin and Sarah Snowden thanked everybody for their efforts and praised the “fantastic community spirit” being shown by the neighbourhood.

They also thanked Sandra Innes, Street Scene and building cleaning manager who, through her offices, provided rakes and gloves to help support the leaf gathering and provided the Street Scene staff to collect the leaves the following day.