The volunteers, from various organisations across Wigan, St Helens and Bolton, are working with the environmental charity BTCV, the British Trust for Conservation Volunteers, to turn the derelict site at Haigh Hall Country Park into a working kitchen garden including an orchard, herb gardens, vegetable patches and wildflower areas.

The team is now half-way through the two-year project, which is funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund and BTCV's My Space? Our Space! youth programme.

The garden, which is managed by Wigan and Leisure Culture Trust, will be open to the public when it is finished next year.

As part of BTCV's Spring into Action campaign, which runs from May 1 until June 8, the organisation is asking people to get involved in looking after their local environment.

Kath Godfrey, BTCV project officer in Wigan, said: "One of the benefits of volunteering is that you sometimes get access to special sites such as this which aren't yet open to the general public.

"We have a regular volunteer group on Thursdays and weekends and a number of youth, church and special needs groups.
"There's something for everyone and we'd love more volunteers!"

Dwaine Akkermans, 53, from Aspull, has volunteered with BTCV for eight years and won the Green Heroes Award last year for his efforts.

He said: "It's amazing what a difference you can make to a grotty area.
You can transform it to a place people are proud of and want to be there. I love working outside, digging and anything like that."

June Evans, 57, of Whitley Crescent, Wigan, has been working on the garden since September.

She said: "Before, the whole garden was wasted – it was just grass and there were too many trees on one end. Now it's productive."

Ann Jones, 58, from Aspull, has volunteered with BTCV since October. She said: "I love gardening and I wanted to be outside doing something. It's beautiful here.

"I would encourage others to do it. It's fun, it's hard work and you meet a lot of different people."

To find out how you can get involved visit www.btcv.org/springintoaction or call 01302 388883