Volunteers today tread in the footsteps of the unemployed workers of yesteryear on Wanstead Flats and Park

The Wren Group do some excellent work around Wanstead Park and the Flats. Over recent months, there has been bramble clearance, helping erect the skylark enclosure (with the City of London Corporation) and encouraging wild flowers around the exchange land area of the park. The group also do educational awareness raising work, especially in the summer with a weekend of activities. In some ways the practical work is building on tradition in the area. In the latter part of the nineteenth and early twentieth century, unemployed workers were organised to do public works. These included establishing the Jubilee, Alexandra and Angel lakes on Wanstead Flats. They also helped make the area into a recreational place, with the football pitches and other sporting facilities. The unemployed workers also put a concrete bottom in the Heronry lake in the park, as well as de-silting the Ornamental lake. Slightly further afield on Leyton Flats, they extended Hollow ponds and helped build a lido nearby. The work was overseen by local councils, with distress committees directly administering the operations - including pay. The detail of this fascinating period of local history can be found in the excellent booklet: Changing the Face of the Forest-how the unemployed transformed the Wanstead Flats area by Andrew Cole, Mark Gorman and Peter Williams (www.leytonhistorysociety.org uk). So, it can be seen the work of the Wren Group and others like the Friends of Wanstead Park and the River Roding Trust are all building on a significant tradition. The unemployed workers efforts were on a bigger scale and they were paid. The volunteers today mainly do the work out of a love and concern for nature and the local area. All contribute greatly and long may the work continue and grow. This great volunteering work must, though, not be seen as a way for local authorities and those with statutory responsibilities to evade their duties. A bit of cheap labour to save money. The relationship has to be very much one of partnership. The individuals and groups are happy to volunteer and work but also expect their voices to be heard by the likes of the City of London Corporation, Redbridge, Newham and Waltham Forest Councils, as well as Thames Water and the Environment Agency. The work of volunteers must not be seen as a substitute for properly resourcing our open spaces. At present the partnerships seem to be developing well. But it is always a fine line between co-operation and exploitation, as no doubt many of those unemployed workers, who did so much to lay the blueprint for the park and flats today, would testify. So onward with the work but always in a truly collaborative spirit of working for the common good.