Our Parks Are Vital
(C) Jeff Gilbert
This week is Love Parks Week - a celebration of all things parks which seems entirely apt as parks have never been more important. In fact, this last year has shown us just how vital parks are. They have been the backdrop for so much more than ever before – our place to exercise, to socialise, to relax, to get fresh air, to see our families, to play and much more.
But not everyone has equal access. In fact, so much depends on where you live:
(C) Camden Green Spaces
15 million people in England (out of 54m total population) live in neighbourhoods identified as lacking quality green space.
Half of Black Britons and nearly half of Asian Britons (46%) live in neighbourhoods lacking green space, in contrast to 18% of White Britons.
43% of households in urban neighbourhoods lacking green space have no access to a car
There is also a strong correlation between green space deprivation and high health inequalities, high unemployment and high overall deprivation.
So what are we doing about it? Over the last two years we've partnered with National Lottery Heritage Fund to deliver Future Parks, a collaboration between our two organisations and local councils. The programme supports councils to enable them to rethink, redesign and repurpose parks and green spaces across the whole of their town or city as well as develop new business and investment models to sustain and enhance those networks of parks and green spaces. It's a bit different to many National Lottery Heritage Fund grant programmes in that we offer both a grant to local authorities and also an extensive package of additional support delivered by members of the programme team, National Trust colleagues and also external consultants.
I've loved seeing how this programme has laid out the groundwork for longer term change and this early work is now starting to pay dividends - the range of activity across the programme is really quite amazing! From levelling up access to green space in Birmingham to creating nature networks in Edinburgh, attracting new finance for a huge investment in nature in Plymouth and investing in parks for health in Camden and Islington, where the parks teams have joined forces with health teams and the voluntary sector to transform the way parks are designed, used and managed.
There's still lots more exciting work to come in the Future Parks space and the team and I can't wait to share what's happening with you.
Victoria Bradford-Keegan, Delivery Director for Future Parks Accelerator, July 2021