It took the volunteer Trustees of Warley Woods Community Trust seven years to go through all the legal issues to allow them to manage Warley Woods.  They took over a site which had had no investment for many years.  There were no paths, no bins, just two benches.  There was no fencing, gates or play area and the drinking fountain just looked like a lump of concrete amongst nettles.  The only events were ones which the Community Trust had put on while waiting for the legal issues to be sorted.

We think Warley Woods is now an award winning, welcoming, safe, thriving community space with top class facilities, events for everyone and an opportunity for anyone to get involved at any level.  We have 1,400 plus members, hundreds of volunteers and have raised £4.5 million - all spent on making Warley Woods a special place for everyone who visits.

• 2004  Management of Warley Woods park and golf course began
• 2006  Delivery of regeneration through Heritage Lottery Project (HLF) began
• 2006  New children’s play area created
• 2006  New park sculptures installed
• 2006  Stride healthy walks started
• 2007  First trees planted in Warley Woods for over 30 years
• 2008  Pavilion building made fully accessible with new toilets, boiler and windows
• 2008  First corporate groups help to maintain the park
• 2009  History trail leaflet and signage created
• 2009  Edwardian Drinking Fountain restored
• 2009  First golf summer school – free for children from Sandwell
• 2009  Green Flag Award for the first time
• 2009  New perimeter path around the golf course created
• 2010  The Wilderness opened to the public
• 2010  Theatre in the Woods for the first time
• 2011  Volunteers number over 400
• 2013  Oral history project completed
• 2014  Warley Woof , promoting responsible dog ownership, launched
• 2014  10^th Anniversary of managing the site.
• 2014  Four years of the Big Tree Plant and two years of being a Nature Improvement area project completed
• 2015  Outdoor gym equipment installed
• 2015  Entrances refurbished
• 2016  Large IT system project to support the Trust’s future development (OSWALD) delivered
• 2016  Voted one of the UK’s Favourite Parks
• 2016  Viv Cole, Trust Manager wins Green Flag Employee of the Year award
• 2017  Gold Award from Royal Forestry Society Excellence Awards: Urban and Community Woodland
• 2017  Schools planting project, funded by Unum in its first year
• 2017  Play area refurbished with new family of carved bears
• 2018  Green Flag Award for the 10th Year
• 2018  Celebrated Humphry Repton’s Bicentennary with events, activities and performance
• 2018  Complete website redesign
• 2019  18th Picnic in the Park
• 2019  Launched Wild Warley - a three year project
• 2020  Voted one of the UK’s Favourite Parks for the fifth year running
• 2020  Surviving lockdowns and closures and coming back stronger than ever.
• 2021  Woodland Tales Arts Project
• 2021  Celebrating 100 years of a Golf Course open to all.

These are just highlights of the past 17 years. The Trust is proud of every innovation, partnership and improvement however big or small.   Many thanks to all the volunteers, supporters and donors who have helped make them happen.

We are still one of the very few public parks of any scale in the UK managed by the community who uses it.  We have had to find our way to do this sustainably and that is probably the biggest achievement of all. 

Would you like to play your part?  

Join the Trust or volunteer.