Park Pals – Heaton Park

Join the Park Pals at Heaton Park and get involved in a wide range of volunteering opportunities that support our events, community engagement activities and environmental improvement projects.

Heaton Park is the biggest and best park in the Northwest, covering over 600 acres of green space in North Manchester. It combines beautiful natural landscapes, historic features like the Grade I‑listed Heaton Hall, and a wide range of visitor attractions including woodlands, gardens, a boating lake, an animal centre, playgrounds, sports facilities and scenic walking routes. It’s also a major events venue, hosting festivals, community activities and welcoming millions of visitors each year.

The park is brought to life by a team of staff who care for the park, its animals and the visitors. Last year Heaton Park welcomed 3 million visitors in 2025.

As a Park Pals volunteer, you play a vital role in supporting our events and activities. You’ll help us deliver engaging experiences for local communities and for visitors who join us from across the UK and beyond. You’ll also contribute to caring for the natural landscape of this beautiful green space.

The Park Pals role is fully flexible, and it is up to you to choose the opportunities that interest you as they become available. This means you decide how much time you’d like to give, while supporting the work of the Parks Team and our valued partners.

Park Pals volunteering gives you the chance to get involved in a wide variety of activities across our parks. You’ll support events and programmes delivered by the Parks Team and our partner groups, from sporting events and live music to community celebrations, environmental improvement projects, and much more!

After a short induction call, and once you’ve officially joined the Park Pals community, we’ll keep you in the loop with regular emails highlighting new volunteering opportunities. From there, you’re free to choose the events and activities that excite you most and sign up for the ones you want to be part of.

Benefits for Park Pals Volunteers (Short Version)

• Flexible and fun, choose the activities and events you want to support.
• Make a difference in one of Europe’s largest, most visited parks.
• Meet new people and be part of a friendly, active community.
• Learn new skills through events, conservation tasks and public engagement.
• Enjoy the outdoors in Heaton Park’s beautiful 600‑acre setting.

Skills Needed for Park Pals Volunteers

• Enthusiasm and a positive attitude – being friendly and willing to get involved.
• Good communication skills – comfortable interacting with visitors, staff and other volunteers.
• Reliability – turning up on time and following guidance from the Parks Team.
• Teamwork – happy working alongside others during events and activities.
• Basic practical skills – useful for light environmental tasks (e.g., litter picking, simple gardening or event setup).
• Flexibility – being open to different types of activities depending on the event or task.
• Willingness to learn – especially for conservation tasks or supporting heritage and animal areas.

How It Works 

When you register your interest we will get in touch with you via email to sign you up to our volunteering database - MCR VIP. We will then take you through our Park Pals recrutiment which includes...

1. An Induction Call: 
   You’ll start with a short introduction call so we can welcome you and answer any questions.
2. Join the Park Pals Community: 
   Once you have read the volunteer handbook and have signed our volunteer agreement, you will be a Park Pal member, and you’ll receive regular email updates with upcoming volunteering opportunities.
3. Pick What You Want to Do: 
   Simply choose the events and activities that appeal to you and sign up for the ones you’d like to support.
4. Briefing and Inductions

We will then send a pre-briefing via email with more details of what you will be doing on your volunteering shift. You will also have an induction on the day of your volunteering shift with the shift supervisor.