Hard-working volunteers in two groups have been leading the way in making their towns nicer places to live in the last two years - and there is no sign of them slowing down.

Ramsbottom Civic Pride (RCP) was set up two years ago by resident Heather Ryder, who said she was dismayed by how "run down" the town had become following the pandemic, and wanted to turn it back into a place where locals could proud of its appearance again.

Heather formed RCP after discovering the nearby Rawtenstall Civic Pride, which has been running for more than 20 years, and found it had established strong ties with its council, Rossendale, and had taken on the role of maintaining gardens and public areas.

Keen to follow a similar formula, Heather contacted the council and was put in touch with Bury’s Voluntary and Community Faith Alliance (VCFA).

She pulled together a team of committed volunteers and residents with a shared passion of making "Ramsbottom beautiful again".

RCP was split into teams of volunteers to maintain individual dedicated areas in Ramsbottom, and they started transforming the town's communal areas back into beautiful centrepieces.

Much of the time in the first year was spent on weeding and cutting back overgrown areas of the town, before being able to start working on planting flowers and adding colour and vibrancy into the town centre while working closely with Bury Council.

RCP received a grant from the local authority and the VCFA from the “Let’s Do It Fund”, which encouraged new volunteers and allowed efforts to carry on into a second year, building on the initial work that was done.

Ramsbottom Civic Pride work Ramsbottom Civic Pride work (Image: RCP) And the efforts have continued at pace this year with continued care for the public areas, planting flowers and placing flower tubs in locations such as outside the Hare and Hounds, Holcombe Tap and on Bolton Street, tidying up St Paul’s Church garden and memorial area, building rockeries, creating pathways for children to follow, re-pointing the New Jerusalem memorial site and installing a “Welcome to Ramsbottom” stone on Bury New Road.

The transformation in Ramsbottom over the last two years has been remarkable.

Heather, who serves as chair of RCP, said: “The changes in Ramsbottom have been brilliant, and we’d like to thank our superb volunteers, the council, our local councillors and Bury VCFA for their help and support.

"And we'd also like to thank the other groups who have also contributed to this success, like Ramsbottom Rotary, Ramsbottom’s Volunteer Litter Pickers and the Friends of Nuttall Park to name a few.”

The volunteers benefit from working outdoors, and from improved mental health, enjoying getting together with other like-minded volunteers, as well as bringing the “Pride” back for businesses and people who live in Ramsbottom and encouraging more visitors to return time and again.

Heather added: “The idea has really caught on and we’ve been able to help residents in Tottington to set up their own Tottington Civic Pride, under their own chairwoman, Cllr Yvonne Wright.

“We’ve also been pleased to be involved in encouraging Ramsbottom’s car boot event to return, and working with other groups to encourage more visitors to come into Ramsbottom by keeping the town beautiful for local events.”

Tottington Civic Pride formed in July last year after being inspired by RCP's achievements.

They originally came together to rid the centre of Tottington of weeds, and this autumn they have moved on to keeping the village free of leaves.

This year the group received donations of plants and shrubs from Tesco, Asda and Helen's Flowers and cash donations from two local businesses which helped to purchase compost.

Tottington Civic Pride work Tottington Civic Pride work (Image: James Leyland) Cllr Wright said: “We have received fantastic support from residents, many are so appreciative of our efforts and say they now feel better on visiting the nearby health centre just looking at our plant displays! We work on several of the public gardens too.

“Just as Ramsbottom inspired our group, we have recently inspired Affetside to start their village group too.

“We have bonded as a group, made friendships, learnt much from each other and look forward to our sessions together improving Tottington.

“Our group of volunteers do not want to see Tottington decline and are happy to give our time freely to Tottington Civic Pride.”

Heather and Cllr Wright say they would be keen to see the civic pride format spread further across Bury, and would be happy to help new groups set up and pass on some tips to help the groups become established.