Fields
in Trust, has launched a campaign to find the UK’s
Best Park, as voted by YOU!
The
award is open to all public green spaces across the UK through a simple online
nomination at www.fieldsintrust.org/best-park.
Nominations
for the UK’s Best Park open as Fields in Trust publish new research. The Green
Space Index reveals that over 2.5 million people across Great Britain live more
than ten-minutes-walk from their nearest park or green space.
The
charity has developed the Green Space Index which, for the first time, uses new
Ordnance Survey data to comprehensively analyse park and green space provision
across Great Britain.
Having
first been awarded in 2015, the prestigious UK’s Best Park Award returns this
year in a new summer time-slot which sees it form part of Fields in Trust’s
‘Summer of Parks’.
Chairman
of Trustees at Fields in Trust, Tim Phillips, said: "Parks and green
spaces are not simply nice to have, they are a necessity for healthy happy
communities, positively impacting on a range of key wellbeing issues from
physical and mental health to social cohesion.
"This Award recognises the vital role that local parks
play in our neighbourhoods, bringing people together and creating places for
play, sport and the enjoyment of nature; places that should be protected for
everyone. We want to celebrate these much-loved green spaces and invite all
park users to vote for their favourite.”
Fields
in Trust is a UK-wide charity that legally protects parks and green spaces in
perpetuity for current and future generations to enjoy. The UK’s Best Park
Award recognises the role that parks play in our communities, supporting mental
and physical health and bringing people together. The charity is concerned that
many parks and green spaces are under threat from financial and development
pressures and want to stem this cycle of disappearance and decline.
The
UK’s Best Park award runs throughout the summer as Fields in Trust are leading
a discussion about our nation’s parks and green spaces.
The
‘Summer of Parks’ began with the launch of the Green Space Index, which for the
first time comprehensively analysed publicly accessible park and green space
provision across Great Britain. On Saturday 6th July the annual Have a Field
Day event will see communities coming together for a picnic at their local park
to celebrate with their neighbours.
Each
week throughout the summer Fields in Trust will be exploring a different theme
relating to parks and green spaces as part of a discussion on the importance of
valuing and protecting these green lungs of our communities.
