SEVENTY volunteers came together in Winterbourne where they were thanked for their work across South Gloucestershire.

South Gloucestershire’s Community Spaces Network, run within South Gloucestershire Council, hosted the event at Winterbourne Medieval Barn on Thursday (June 9) to celebrate the many friends groups and volunteers who help to maintain the district’s parks, nature reserves and public rights of way.

Groups and individuals were honoured by council chairman Cllr Erica Williams, who praised them for their invaluable work and dedication.

She said: “It was great to have an opportunity to officially thank these volunteers for the huge contribution they make to our parks and open spaces in South Gloucestershire.

“Their hard work and commitment ensures that we can all enjoy the best of what our beautiful area has to offer.”

Sue Parsons, volunteer and chairman of the Winterbourne Medieval Barn Trust, have a speech on the history of the unique 14th century building and the exciting future it holds having secured development funding from the Heritage Lottery Fund.

There were also talks and presentations from a number of representatives of local heritage sites and parks, conservation groups, friends groups, In Bloom groups, and a representative from Keep Britain Tidy’s Love Parks campaign.

Volunteers attending got to play an active part in the evening by taking the opportunity to promote their groups and organisations for 'just a minute' and talk about their achievements over the last year.

The evening, which took place during the national Volunteers’ Week, ended with a bat walk to nearby Monks Pool local nature reserve, led by volunteers from Avon Bat Group.