Christmas comes early for four historic UK parks with £6.4m Lottery investment

The Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) and the Big Lottery Fund (BIG) have confirmed joint funding¹ of £3.1m for parks in Croydon and Allerdale. HLF has separately awarded £3.3m to two further parks in Swansea and Aberdeen. All four parks are now set to undergo major redevelopment work. Initial joint HLF/BIG support² and development funding totalling £1m has also been awarded to 11 parks across the UK.

Carole Souter, Chief Executive of the Heritage Lottery Fund, said:

"Today's investment is a great way to end the year and will provide these parks with much-needed financial support. A local park is a vital resource for surrounding communities and can often be people's only available green space for recreation and leisure. We are absolutely committed to supporting historic parks across the UK and by doing so protecting the wonderful legacy that was left to us by the Victorians."

Anna Southall, Acting Chair of the Big Lottery Fund, said:

"The historic parks awarded Lottery funding today are at the heart of their local communities. BIG is delighted to be playing a role in restoring and maintaining these wonderful parks to ensure that they continue to bring joy and to play a vital part in the lives of generations of local residents and visitors alike."

David Tibbatts, General & Business Development Manager, GreenSpace said:

"The support for public parks provided by Lottery funding has always been greatly needed and appreciated; both by the dedicated teams that look after our green spaces and by those that use and love them. HLF and BIG have made the greatest contribution to green space improvement, providing funding that hasn't just restored and conserved lost and vulnerable heritage features; it has transformed spaces, re-energised them and restored their position at the heart of communities."

Confirmed funding of £6.4m has been awarded to the following parks:

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