FOR the people who take their chances with the Lottery every week, few could have realised the positive effect their £1 ticket would have on the local landscape.

William Barratt was commissioned to design Albert Park and in 1868 it was given to the people of Middlesbrough as a much-needed open space in a densely populated area.

But with £4.3m being spent on the park to bring it back to its former Victorian glory, the people of the town have taken every opportunity to celebrate its rebirth.

Its restoration has had enthusiastic community support, and been a pilot for a restorative prison project, now adopted nationally, in conjunction with the Prison Service and Probation Service.

The community has now got a park with a teenage play area, a better roller skating rink, a boathouse, and a restored boating lake, with original planting reinstated wherever possible.

A community worker is now dedicated to building links with local groups and encouraging people to use the park, which is leading to increased visitor numbers.

Park staff, supported by the Friends of Albert Park, provide a programme of events for young people through the year, and the roller skating rink has become a focus for many activities.

The South African War Memorial, the tower clock, the west lodge and a Victorian sundial are all being refurbished and a memorial garden has also been added.

In the mid-1990s, investment in parks had slumped and this is where the Lottery fund stepped in, announcing a new scheme to boost public parks, squares, gardens and cemeteries.

The North East Heritage Lottery Fund has given grants of £40m to 21 historic parks in the region over the past ten years.