- Area:
- UK-wide
- Programme:
- Parks for People
- Release date:
- 15 4 2009
Lottery investment set to create jobs, volunteering and skills opportunities
Eight communities across the UK have an extra spring in their step today after sharing in grants totalling £14million from the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) and the Big Lottery Fund’s (BIG) Parks for People programme. The money will be spent on regenerating and restoring much-loved parks in Hertfordshire, Leicestershire, Staffordshire, Perthshire, Lanarkshire, Cornwall, Coventry and Sunderland.
In addition to transforming these popular public spaces, these grants will fund increased volunteering and training opportunities for over a thousand people as part of the projects, with activities as wide-ranging as planting, habitat creation, tour guiding, garden design, woodland and event management.
A further £1.6million of development funding* has also been awarded to 13 other parks to help them work up detailed proposals for applications of more than £20million. **
Dame Jenny Abramsky, Chair of the Heritage Lottery Fund, said: “Parks are important to our physical and mental health, providing much-needed space for rest and recreation in our increasingly congested and busy lives. This lottery investment will also provide exciting opportunities for people to volunteer and develop new skills.”
Sir Clive Booth, Chair of the Big Lottery Fund, added: “Not only will today’s funding help to safeguard these precious green spaces and the environment for future generations, but the volunteering opportunities created will be valuable, especially at a time where increasing numbers find themselves unemployed and facing many personal problems. While volunteering does not replace paid employment, it does help by increasing self-esteem and providing people's lives with structure, routine and learning opportunities.”
Paul Bramhill, Chief Executive of GreenSpace, said: “Particularly in these uncertain times, it is wonderful to see that BIG and HLF continue to recognise the immense value of volunteering in parks and are working so well together to help create a wide variety of opportunities across the country.”
Lichfield’s historic green centre - £3.9million grant
Beacon Park, Minster Pool and the Garden of Remembrance are three inter-linked open spaces in Lichfield, Staffordshire. Beacon Park dates back to the 19th century and retains elements of a late Georgian landscape, such as mature trees, ornamental pools, avenues and drives. It also includes the Victorian Museum Gardens which has a bronze statue of Commander Edward John Smith, the captain of RMS Titanic. Minster Pool is believed to date from pre-medieval times with its formal walk being created in the 1770s and the Garden of Remembrance was created in 1920 in memory of those who made the ultimate sacrifice during the Great War.
The £3.9million grant will transform these popular open spaces by restoring the landscape and historic features such as balustrades, gates, statues and a fountain. Local scouts will be among the expected 220 people volunteering in a variety of activities, including wildlife gardening and environmental projects which focus on wildflowers, hedgerows and woodland.
Coventry’s lasting memorial - £2.8million grant
War Memorial Park opened in 1921 as Coventry's tribute to its soldiers and other service personnel that lost their lives during World War I. It has an impressive war memorial, formal planted gardens and a children's water play feature. The wonderful tree-lined avenues that surround this park are amongst its most distinctive features. The park also has two themed gardens, with two rockeries, a rose garden, and a peace garden known as the ‘German Garden’.
A grant of £2.8million will fund the wide-ranging restoration and renewal of Coventry’s premier park. The works will encompass the memorial, gardens, paths and pitches. The numerous pavilions will be adapted into education, exhibition and community spaces.
The scheme includes an extensive plan for volunteer involvement with people helping with the gardening and collecting personal histories on World War I for a website and exhibition. People with special needs will receive nationally-recognised training and qualifications in horticultural skills.
The biggest park in Sunderland - £2.4million
Barnes Park opened in1909 following a local work creation initiative during the recession of that time and this year it is celebrating its centenary. Unusually for the period, the design was developed without the involvement of any recognised landscape architects.
This £2.4million investment will contribute to the overall £3.6million project to regenerate this popular park, carefully conserving the landscape and restoring historical features such as the bandstand and canon. New play areas will be added, the disused tennis courts will be replaced with an ornamental garden and the lake and surrounding area rejuvenated. Over 100 volunteers will help with clearing up the park, restoring the rock garden, installing bird boxes and planting bulbs and trees.
Perthshire’s pride - £1.1million grant
The picturesque MacRosty Park in Crieff, Perthshire, opened to the public in 1902 and is named after its benefactor, James MacRosty, a former Provost of the town. The fast flowing Turret Burn runs through this woodland park which features an Edwardian bandstand and many mature trees such as firs, spruces and cedars.
Thanks to a grant of more than £1.1million, the former tennis pavilion will be refurbished and turned into a community building, water will be reintroduced to the 14th-century Mill Lade, paths and bridges improved and the bandstand restored. Imaginative new play facilities for children will be built as part of Perth & Kinross Council’s comprehensive regeneration of the park.
A haven in Hertfordshire - £1.7million grant
Stevenage’s Town Centre Gardens were developed in the 1960s and are the town’s most important formal and ornamental public gardens. This project will reveal the park’s original historic features, create new gardens and recreational space.
Cornwall’s unique gardens - £939,000 grant
Gyllyngdune Gardens in Falmouth opened to the town’s people in 1907 and have wonderful displays of bedding plants and hanging baskets. An Edwardian bandstand, surrounded by formal gardens, is at the centre of this highly-regarded park. Restoration works to historic features and providing more facilities for children and young people are at the heart of regeneration plans.
The only park in the village - £645,000 grant
Stafford Orchard in Quorn, Leicestershire, was gifted to the people of the village in 1922. It consists of open grass areas, mature trees and recreation facilities and adjoins Buddon Brook, a tributary of the River Soar. The application was put together by village volunteers and will allow the park to be revitalised with new planting, a sensory garden, easier access and new recreational areas. Enhancements to natural habitats, particularly in the park's brook area, form a key part of these proposals.
Kilsyth’s green lungs - £420,000 grant
Burngreen Park in Kilsyth, North Lanarkshire, can trace its roots back to its use as a drying green and bleaching ground for the linen industry in the 17th century; its bandstand, water fountain and war memorial are key landmarks in the town. The project to rejuvenate this popular open space will include extensive restoration works to the bandstand, fountain and war memorial. Walls, paths, bridges and seating will also be improved.
Further Information
For further information, please contact:
Dervish Mertcan or Alison Scott at HLF’s press office on 020 7591 6102 / 6032
Email: dervishm@hlf.org.uk
Out of hours mobile: 07973 613 820
Helen Harch at the BIG press office on 020 7211 3707
Email: helen.harch@biglotteryfund.org.uk
Out of hours: 07867 500 572
Notes to Editors
- * The Parks for People programme has a two-stage or two-round application process. At the first stage or round, an organisation can apply for a development grant to contribute to the costs of developing the project for a second stage or round application. The full grant is only awarded if the second stage or round application is successful.
- ** The 13 parks awarded a Stage One Pass with development funding are:
- Cedars Park, Cheshunt, Hertfordshire (£173,000)
- Forest Recreation Ground, Nottingham (£181,500)
- Horniman Gardens, Lewisham, London (£71,500)
- Memorial Park, Whaley Bridge, Derbyshire (£24,300)
- Victoria Park, Tower Hamlets, London (£295,500)
- The Green, Silloth-on-Solway, Cumbria (£106,000)
- Kings Gardens, Southport (£240,000)
- Telford Town Park, Shropshire (£162,000)
- Mote Park, Maidstone, Kent (£124,500)
- Brinkburn Dene's, Darlington, County Durham (£45,200)
- Duthie Park, Aberdeen (£71,500)
- Cambuslang Park, South Lanarkshire (£22,700)
- Brooke Park, Londonderry/Derry (£94,000)
The Parks for People programme uses Lottery funds to support the regeneration, conservation and increased enjoyment of public parks. The programme aims to improve the local environment and put parks firmly back at the heart of community life. In England two Lottery Funds have been working in partnership (2006-2009) to deliver a multi-million pound investment in public parks of £150million. Over the three years the Big Lottery Fund (BIG) is investing up to £80million (in England only) with £70million coming from the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) for the UK.
Every completed park project will be expected to achieve the annual prestigious Green Flag Award and in doing so demonstrate quality standards of care and upkeep.
HLF will continue to fund public park projects with an approved investment of some
£20million each year from 2009. The next closing date for applications is 31 August 2009. See www.hlf.org.uk for details.
Parks for People programme grants range from £250,000 to £5million with two rounds of funding each year.
Heritage Lottery Fund
Using money raised through the National Lottery, the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) sustains and transforms a wide range of heritage for present and future generations to take part in, learn from and enjoy. From museums, parks and historic places to archaeology, natural environment and cultural traditions, we invest in every part of our diverse heritage. HLF has supported more than 28,800 projects, allocating over £4.3billion across the UK. Website: www.hlf.org.uk
HLF has already invested more than £400million in 300 historic public parks, gardens, squares and promenades right across the UK.
Big Lottery Fund
BIG has invested more than £700million on environmental initiatives to date. For more information, visit www.biglotteryfund.org.uk
BIG rolls out close to £2million in Lottery good cause money every 24 hours, which together with other Lottery distributors means that across the UK most people are within a few miles of a Lottery-funded project. The Big Lottery Fund, the largest of the National Lottery good cause distributors, has been rolling out grants to health, education, environment and charitable causes across the UK since its inception in June 2004.
Good Causes
Out of every pound spent on a National Lottery ticket, 28p goes directly to good causes. BIG is responsible for distributing half of the money to improve communities and the lives of people most in need. HLF distributes 16.67% of the money to heritage projects across the UK. There are 12 other organisations responsible for distributing lottery money to good causes. www.lotterygoodcauses.org.uk
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