Vital green spaces across England that are at risk of decline due to significant funding cuts are to be supported through a Lottery backed ‘Love Parks’ project announced today.
Big Lottery Fund (BIG) is awarding £416,450 to GreenSpace’s ‘Love Parks’ project which will see a nationwide network of trained volunteers created to help conserve parks and green spaces up and down the country.
NHS evidence shows that an estimated £2.1bn could be saved in healthcare costs if every household in the country had access to quality green space, yet recent research by parks charity GreenSpace indicates a 30-40% cut in spending on green space in some areas.
In light of this, Love Parks will work to empower communities to become confident local champions at the heart of protecting, conserving and improving their local green space. Training, resources and networking will equip volunteer groups across England with the knowledge they need to work with their local managing authorities and on challenges ahead, such as declining standards, loss of facilities or reduced commitment to maintaining activity programmes.
To date, community involvement has made a substantial contribution to the improvement of green space with an estimated half a million volunteers working in up to 4,000 community groups, improving their local environment and reclaiming neglected green space. But in spite of this large number, access to training and knowledge has been limited.
The funding from the Big Lottery Fund will enable GreenSpace to support and grow their existing Community Network and create a new training and knowledge share programme, building a movement of more influential and effective volunteers.
The launch of GreenSpace’s ‘Love Parks’ project marks the start of their Love Parks Week campaign, which aims to raise awareness of parks by encouraging people to organise and attend events during the first week of the summer holidays (27 July – 4 August 2013). Last year the campaign saw 1.4 million people enjoying over 1,200 events across the week; showcasing a vast range of park activities and the benefit of quality, local green space.
For further information, visit: www.loveparksweek.org.uk