Here is a selection of pictures from the Wigan Today archive showing some of that work and the heroes involved in it.
5. Wigan Groundwork Trust receives recognition of its work in 1987
. Photo: Gary Brunskill
6. The Mayor of Wigan Billy Rotherham, cuts a ribbon at the handover of the refurbished resident's garden at High Peak Lodge care home, Leigh, volunteers cut down bushes, painted fences, relay bricks and planted flowers as part of a community project run with the Prince's Trust in partnership with Groundwork.
. Photo: MA
7. Pupils at St. Andrew's Primary School, Springfield, planting trees to create a wildlife area financed by Wigan Groundwork Trust on Thursday March 9 1989
. Photo: Frank Orrell
8. Home composting advisor Tony Hart, of who was giving home composting workshops at the United Utilities Hope Carr Barn Environmental Education Centre, Leigh, shows how it's done with daughter Ellie, 3, Diane Glasgow, from Groundwork Wigan and Chorley, and education officer Helen Riley with a kitchen caddy. The workshops to recycle kitchen waste were organised by WRAP (Waste and Resources Action Programme) and Wigan Council
. Photo: NICK FAIRHURST