URY Riverside Park SCIO

16/08/2026

On Friday 14th August we welcomed Sara, our assessor for the Keep Scotland Beautiful Its Your Neighbourhood this year, to the park for a walk around and to find out how we have been developing the park and increasing its accessibility and biodiversity. Afterwards she messaged to say 'fantastic work from all involved'.

She spoke to us about a similar project on the outskirts of Perth, Denmarkfield, that we might be interested in, it doesn't look as urban as Ury Riverside Park but still we could look to share experiences. They are having an event on September 9th if anyone is in the area and would like to see what they are doing, you can get more information and book places at https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/rewilding-denmarkfield-tickets-1995074141463?aff=odcleoeventsincollection&_gl=1*cuwfvv*_up*MQ..*_ga*NDE4OTk5MzU4LjE3ODY4ODEyNDg.*_ga_TQVES5V6SH*czE3ODY4ODEyNDckbzEkZzAkdDE3ODY4ODEyNDckajYwJGwwJGgwJGRwX2Fzb284Ty1pN1JlQUYtV1ZMSEVUUmQzTGlaTzFTZF9R

07/08/2026

Today we welcomed the Scotland in Bloom judges who were touring Inverurie, meeting many of the community groups including us. Cycling Without Age Inverurie Chapter came along with their trishaws so Rod & Ian could tell the two judges all about what we do. Thanks to Ian and John from Inverurie Environmental Initiative for coordinating the tour.

15/07/2026

Some wildflower photos from around the park in the last couple of days, along with a small tortoiseshell butterfly. Names of flowers are with each image

30/06/2026

Some drone video footage from around our Oldmeldrum Road entrance showing some of the wildflowers and 'grass art' by Graeme from the Inverurie Garden Machinery Centre (or do we have a crop circle!?.

30/06/2026

We're incredibly proud of the events we put on every year—from the Christmas Switch-on Fireworks and Reindeer Parade to Taste of Garioch, the Pipe Band Championships, Ladies Days and the In-Tune Festival.

But the reality of running a charity completely powered by volunteers is that as these events grow, our current team is stretched. The scale and turnout for our annual events are growing massively, which is fantastic for the town, but it means we genuinely need a larger pool of local folk to call on for help.

We aren't asking for a massive commitment. Right now, we are just looking for people who are willing to be on our contact list.

ℹ️ www.events.weareinverurie.co.uk/volunteers

How it works:

Joining the list just means you're open to receiving our volunteer requests.

When an event is coming up, we'll get in touch with the details.

If you can spare a couple of hours to help out, brilliant. If you’re busy, there is absolutely no pressure or obligation to say yes.

We will always provide full information, guidance, and support on the day, so you’ll never be left wondering what to do.

Our community events simply cannot happen without local backing. If you are willing to have your name added to our volunteer list so we can reach out ahead of the next event, please drop fill in: www.events.weareinverurie.co.uk/volunteers

Please also give this post a share to help us spread the word.

Thank you.

28/06/2026

Don't forget there are only a couple of days to submit your entries in the Ury Riverside Park 2027 Calendar Competition! Entries close on 30th June! We are looking for photos taken in the Park of the wildlife, scenery, or activities, they must be landscape format. For full details see the post pinned at the top of this page!

16/06/2026

📷 STOP PRESS! 📷

The closing date has been extended for this year's Ury Riverside Park Calendar Park Photography Competition to 30th June 2026!

If you haven't entered, you still have time to do so!

Following the success of our previous calendar competitions, we’re delighted to open entries for the Ury Riverside Park 2027 Calendar.

We’re inviting photographers of all abilities to submit their favourite photos taken in Ury Riverside Park, whether that’s landscapes, seasonal scenes, or the wildlife that calls the park home.

Photos selected by the judges will be used in our 2027 fundraising calendar, with photographers credited in the calendar.

📌Photographs taken in Ury Riverside Park
📆The closing date for entries 30 June 2026
📸submit photos via link in bio or
📩or email us at [email protected]

If you enjoy spending time in the park and capturing it through your lens, we’d love you to get involved and help support Ury Riverside Park.

Good luck – we can’t wait to see your photos! 📷🌿

16/06/2026

Don’t forget – our calendar photography competition closes at the end of June!

We’re still looking for more photos of the park, so if you’ve taken a great shot, now’s the time to enter. The calendar helps raise funds for the park, so every submission really makes a difference.

Our independent judges will select 13 images for the calendar, with an overall winner receiving a prize.

Don’t miss out – get your entries in before the deadline!

See below for link or email us to enter.

STOP PRESS!

The closing date has been extended for this years Ury Riverside Park Calendar Park Photography Competition to 30th June 2026!

If you haven't entered, you still have time to do so!

📸 Ury Riverside Park Calendar Photography Competition – Now Open!

Following the success of our previous calendar competitions, we’re delighted to open entries for the Ury Riverside Park 2027 Calendar.

We’re inviting photographers of all abilities to submit their favourite photos taken in Ury Riverside Park, whether that’s landscapes, seasonal scenes, or the wildlife that calls the park home.

Photos selected by the judges will be used in our 2027 fundraising calendar, with photographers credited in the calendar.

📌Photographs taken in Ury Riverside Park
📆The closing date for entries is 31 May 2026.
📸submit photos via our form ➡https://forms.gle/BY5KeuTCuzSNaCPj8
📩or email us at [email protected]

If you enjoy spending time in the park and capturing it through your lens, we’d love you to get involved and help support Ury Riverside Park.

Good luck – we can’t wait to see your photos! 📷🌿

12/06/2026

Following on from our earlier post, we have started the work on the river bank to manage the erosion near the Osprey Village bridge. We had the opportunity to harvest some suitable willow from a local site last week and earlier this week a couple of our volunteers started to put the willow spiling in place. Willow stakes are driven into the edge of the riverbed and then thin pieces are woven between them. The stakes will develop roots and start growing which will help stabilise the bank and help trap silt behind the structure. We will be doing more, provided the water levels are not too high in the coming weeks.

We had some comments on our previous post asking why we don't just move the path, create a new channel for the river or modify the bridge. All of these could work, but would need considerable amounts of money to fund them, moving the path might only last a few more years and before modifying river channels requires extensive modeling to make sure it would be appropriate and not cause other issues.

The park is managed by the community through a charity (SCIO) in partnership with Aberdeenshire Council and does not have large financial resources, funding for projects is generally from grants, donations or other fundraising This area is an active flood plain as we all know, SEPA do not allow works that could change the potential flood capacity or water flows. What we are doing is only costing volunteer time, uses local and sustainable materials, is a sustainable traditional management technique and can be delivered in a short timescale.