Stamford Park's new crazy golf course is in full swing

A REFURBISHED crazy golf course is now open for children, young people and residents to have a ‘hole lot of fun’ whilst improving local parks.

This project was funded by Tameside Futures, part of Tameside Council’s Employment & Skills service, in collaboration with The Growth Company, who engaged with 11 young people at their Tameside Skills Centre to help them gain new skills in a social activity over the summer holidays.

The new activity is also an added attraction for Stamford Park.

Tameside Futures is a Tameside Council run project that supports young people aged 16-18 (or up to 24 dependent on criteria) who are not in education, employment or training.

Tameside Futures works with employers, colleges, charities, and training providers to source the right opportunities and support to help young people on their path.  The scheme is now funded by Flexible Local Grant Scheme.  The aim of this funding set out to upskill adults, especially those with low qualifications, support disadvantaged groups into employment, and reduce economic inactivity through tailored employment support.

The crazy golf course consists of nine holes that is open to the public during café opening hours, which are 10am till 4pm during summer and 10am till 3pm in winter, and will be £3 per person to play.

Payment can be made at the Café Pavilion, where clubs and balls can also be collected and handed back in.

The café and toilets in Stamford Park will close at 3pm daily from Sunday 30 October through the winter months. Opening hours are subject to weather.

Dylan, 18, from Ashton-under-Lyne, who manages the golf course said: “It was great to be a part of the volunteering team and now keeping the course clean and tidy, which involves coming down every day to the park.

“I’ve enjoyed meeting the people who have said the course has brought back memories back to them, with a couple of older people coming up to me saying I remember when it was up there and now it’s here!”

A young lady who was involved in the creation of the course said: “We created the ramps and the gold assault course from scratch, chopped them down, painted them and came to stack them up.

“This involved setting it up together, it feels like it has made a great change to the community because people are now out playing golf. My favourite part is seeing people play on the course.”

Tameside Council’s Executive Member for Lifelong Learning and Culture, Cllr Leanne Feeley said: “It is fantastic to see such a brilliant activity open up in one of our local parks that is open to not only families but young people and anyone that would like to have a bit of fun.

“I’d like to take the time to thank the young people who were involved in refurbishing the course and creating obstacles, it looks great!”

For more information about out Tameside Futures programme, click here.

If you’d like to explore more of our parks and greenspaces in the borough, click here.