It's been a long year. The Coronavirus pandemic has meant 12 months of lockdowns, various tiers of restrictions, and instructions to maintain social distance, wash hands and generally Keep Safe. Here in Manchester we only had 25 days free of any restriction as the first lockdown was quickly followed by a 'Tier 3' local one. All about saving lives: nothing is more precious.

Now as we come into Spring and the vaccine roll-out continues, there is fresh hope of emerging from this dark time, and being able to mix again and do those things we used to take for granted. Meantime we can all of course continue to make use of the park for exercise and our well-being.

But it has to be slow and cautious as no-one wants to have to go back to tiers or lockdowns again. For this reason summer 2021 will be too soon to re-start the Swinton Grove Park Fun Day as it takes several months to organise. But keep watching this space.

We are sorry to announce that Swinton Grove Park Fun Day 2020 has been cancelled. This is due to the lockdown restrictions for the Coronavirus pandemic. We had been watching the Government's gradual releasing of the lockdown measures, but it is now clear that large public gatherings such as our Fun Day will not be allowed for some time yet. Public Safety is too important to risk. We can of course all still enjoy the park, suitably socially distanced of course, but the Fun Day will have to be at another time. Meantime, stay safe and watch this space.  

We have been awarded a grant of £500 towards the costs of the Fun Day by the University Construction Community Fund, for which, thank you! However, in the light of the Coronavirus crisis a decision has to be made about whether or not the Fun Day will be able to go ahead. It is over 2 months away and a lot can happen in that time, but a "better safe than sorry" policy might be best. Once that decision is taken – be it a postponement or cancellation – it will be posted here. If we do decide to postpone to later this year, the UCCF say the grant can be used right up to December 31.

After a break in 2019, Fun Day will be back in 2020 (funding permitting). We have added two more members to the Friends of Swinton Grove Park - the group of local volunteers who organise the day - and we are working towards Saturday July 4 (make a note of the date!). Watch this space for more news nearer the time.

If you have ideas for what should happen on Fun Day, or would like to help in any way, please get in touch. This is an event that is for and by local people - the more who are involved, the better!

No, it's not an April Fool's joke. There will be no Swinton Grove Park Fun Day this year. Why?
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• Fun Day has been running for 17 years and is organised by The Friends of Swinton Grove Park. The Friends group currently consists of 4 local people, all of whom have been members since it began. We have organised all 17 Fun Days, and feel it is time for a change.
• The Fun Day itself needs some fresh enthusiasm and energy and ideas, and new people can bring all those things and more.
• So, instead of organising a Fun Day for 2019 we are encouraging new people to join the Friends group. We can help new members to get up to speed with what is involved in looking after the park and running the Fun Day (it's actually not that difficult).

Want to know more? Email us or make a comment below.

Our annual Fun Day last Saturday was, yet again, dry and sunny. Hundreds of people came to enjoy the music, food, entertainment and stalls. Photos from the day can be viewed here. Some feature our 'Love Parks' week heart selfie board.

Once again, a huge thank-you to all who helped make the day a success, particularly the volunteers: organisers, helpers, stall-holders, and the students who came all the way from the USA! Thanks also to Grove Village, M13 Youth Project, Gaskell's House and the Manchester City Council workers who gave such great support as always.

We're having some amazing weather, and hoping for another dry and sunny day on July 14 and the next Swinton Grove Park Fun Day. The event runs from 12-4, but setting it up starts at 9:30am. This is done by a fairly small group of local volunteers with some help from the Council and some students. It would be great to have some more local people coming doing the morning to help make this Fun Day happen - even just for an hour. Another way to help is by giving out our leaflets and posters (download a leaflet here) in the week leading up to the event. If you'd like to be a part of it, drop us an email.

The funding is in (thanks Manchester City Council), the music, entertainers and stalls are booked, the food is ordered. We're hoping for another sunny day...

The 2018 Swinton Grove Park Fun Day will be on Saturday 14th July, 12-4pm

Once again the Friends of Swinton Grove Park have been working hard behind the scenes getting everything ready. If you can help on the day with marquees, gazebos, tables, chairs etc. send us an email.

Our annual Fun Day on July 8 was (yet again!) a sunny one and drew what may have been record crowds. A great time was had by all: big thanks to our entertainers, stall holders and caterers. Thanks also to the Lord Mayor, local Councillors, Tina, Mavis and Bernard and our MP Lucy for supporting the event. And a special thank you to our volunteers – some local, some students on placement from the USA – without you setting up from 9:30am and taking down until 6pm the day just would not have been possible. See the photos here.

​This is the sort of day that shows what Manchester is all about: all of us getting on together, having a good time. We could still do with more help in the Friends Group who organise it. If you'd like to see another Fun Day next year and would like to be a part of making it happen, click here.

This year's Fun Day is nearly here! It will be on Saturday July 8, 12-4pm, with nearly all of the usual activities and entertainment. We say 'nearly' as there was a slight funding cut this year (but we are still grateful to Manchester City Council and our local Councillors for protecting most of the funding for another year). Big thanks to Grove Village who have been able  to make up part of the shortfall. We will make a small charge for the Face Painting (50p) to try and cover the rest. Any surplus will be donated to the Manchester Arena Fund.

Also this year we will be linking up with 'Have A Field Day', a national initiative run by 38 Degrees to celebrate and help protect local parks. Read more here.