Parks and people a match made in heaven

This year's national Love Parks Week will take place from Saturday 27th July to Sunday 4th August, coinciding with the first week of the school holidays.

Love Parks Week, now in its seventh year, has always aimed to raise awareness of the importance of parks and green spaces, through highlighting the countless benefits they bring and proving the need for continual investment and engagement. This year the campaign will ramp up its fight for parks and will inspire people to love their park all year round not just during summer.

Paul Bramhill, CEO of charity GreenSpace, highlights the current situation for parks: "In spite of abundant research proving the health, social and environmental value of green space, surveys citing parks as top commodities for residents and visitor numbers soaring; local authority budgets continue to reduce for parks and green spaces."

He requested "If you value your local park or green space now is the time to get involved, parks need people more than ever."

Recognising the threat to parks and the community behind Love Parks Week, Big Lottery Fund is awarding £416,450 to GreenSpace to develop 'Love Parks' which will work to empower communities to become confident local champions at the heart of protecting, conserving and improving local green space. Training resources and networking will equip volunteer groups across England with the knowledge that they need to work with their local managing authorities and on the challenges ahead such as declining standards and reduced commitment to maintaining activity programmes.

Nat Sloane, England Chair of the Big Lottery Fund says: "The grant awarded to GreenSpace today not only demonstrates BIG's commitment to support unique and innovative community projects in England but also our ongoing commitment in this area. We hope that this project will ensure that parks are still there for the next generation to benefit from and enjoy by bringing whole communities closer together and giving them the tools they need to protect their local green space."

By getting involved with the campaign, you will be helping to drive the message that our parks and green spaces are essential to healthy, happy and strong communities. Find out more and register for updates at: www.loveparksweek.org.uk