River City star Joyce Falconer has returned to her Aberdeen roots to join a litter-picking event and support her local community.
The Torry quine, who is set to make a dramatic return to River City as one of the BBC Scotland soap’s most-loved characters, Roisin McIntyre, geared up alongside locals to clear St. Fittick’s Park on Saturday morning.
Organised by the Friends of St. Fittick’s Park group, the event gathered volunteers and sea cadets of all ages for a day of good communtiy work and fun activities.
To keep all children entertained while families joined forces to clear any rubbish at the park, a quiz, picture colouring and Spot the Saint game were also arranged specially for the youngest.
For Falconer, who has remained “deeply connected” to the Torry community over the years, the event was an opportunity to reunite with friends and relatives and support a good cause.
She said: “I got involved because it’s very close to my heart and I’m very passionate about it.
“My family moved here in 1969 and I feel a deep connection to this area – this fieldy, as I call it, has been part of my entire life.
“The idea of this park being taken away is devastating for the entire community.
“It’s essential to the people in this area and hopefully my involvement will raise their profile and highlight what’s happening here.
“If you don’t use, you’ll lose it. So, get out and facilitate this greenspace as it’s really important that we keep it.”
Efforts to save Torry’s “last greenspace”
The litter-picking event was held as part of the Friends of St. Fittick’s Park’s ongoing efforts to protect the treasured park and wetlands for future generations.
The group was formed in October last year consequently after plans to build a new energy transition zone in Torry posed a direct threat to the community’s “last greenspace”.
Proposed as part of the city’s local development plan, the project has since been under fire from a number of local politicians and activists, who have vowed to save the area from industrial development.
Ian Baird, who has lived in Torry for more than 15 years and is a member of the group, believes events like these manifest people’s love and appreciation of the park.
The 71-year-old said: “It’s nice for the community to come out and express their commitment and affection to the park simply by tiding it up.
“But we also want to make people prouder of their own environment and encourage those whose behaviour might not be as good as it could be, to improve it by giving a good example.
“Once the local development came out, people realised this was something they value and want to protect, which is the main reason why this and other initiatives have started to pick up at the park.
“If you come to the park and walk through the wetland, you’d just see what a marvelous site it is – it’s full of flower beds, plants, baby ducks have also bred this year and it’s just fantastic.
“There are so many reasons why it’s a community asset, it’s valuable and it must be retained.”