Issue 018.

GreenSpace News

Vote for your favourite Green Flag Award winning site
Organisers of the Green Flag Award have launched a competition to find the public’s favourite Green Flag park. The site that receives the most votes by September 2010 will receive a special award at the Green Flag Award Scheme’s annual awards ceremony in autumn 2010. If your local park or green space stands out from the rest then visit the Green Flag Award Scheme website and vote by going to the ‘Get Involved’ section. More

Organisers are also encouraging the public to get out and about in their Green Flag park during the winter, with parks around the country putting on a host of yuletide events. More

TV appearance for Green Pennant site
A Green Pennant Award winning site is to feature on Channel 4's festive TV lineup this Christmas. Scotswood Natural Community Garden will have an encounter with The Secret Millionaire when a London taxi baron goes undercover in Newcastle’s Westside to meet people who need his help. The programme will be broadcast on Christmas Eve at 9pm on Channel 4. More More

Subsidised places available for Sustainable Parks: Sustainable Futures conference
A limited number of reduced price places are available for community group members at GreenSpace's next conference, Sustainable Parks: Sustainable Futures. The conference, taking place in Liverpool on 2 March 2010, will focus on creating and managing sustainable parks and green spaces. The full programme and venue will be announced on the GreenSpace website when confirmed.

The subsidised places are priced at £90.00 to cover costs, and are available to registered GreenSpace Community Network members and those in full-time education. Provisional places can be booked by ringing GreenSpace Events on 0118 946 6068. More

Contribute to the Community Bench
If you have any useful information you think would be of interest to other community groups (perhaps a website, publication or resource you have used) why not send us an email and we'll try to include it in the Community Bench. We are also looking for more Community Profiles, so if your group has done something you'd like to share with others please email community@green-space.org.uk.

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Funding news

Up to £10,000 grants with Awards for All
The Awards for All grants scheme is funded by Big Lottery Fund and aims to help improve local communities and the lives of people most in need. Groups committed to strengthening their community, improving rural or urban environments or helping people become more active and healthy are invited to apply for grants ranging from £300 to £10,000. More

The Coalfields Regeneration Trust
Bridging the Gap is a funding progamme run by the Coalfields Regeneration Trust, offering grants of £500 - £5,000 to voluntary and community groups for projects that can be completed within 12 months and which contribute to the regeneration of coalfield sites.

The Coalfields Regeneration Trust is an independent grant-making organisation that was established in 1999 to improve the quality of life in Britain’s coalfield communities. The aim of the Trust is to make coalfields sustainable, prosperous, viable and cohesive without support. More

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General news and features

Tree O’Clock claims new world record
Well done to all those who planted a tree and took part in Tree O’Clock between 11am and 12 noon on Saturday 5 December. Gransha Park in Northern Ireland set a new world record for trees planted by hand, by no more than 100 people, at a single site, within a single hour. The team planted 26,422 trees to eclipse the previous record of 18,124.

Organised by Breathing Places and promoted by the BBC, Tree O’Clock also set out to break the world record for trees planted by hand by any number of people within a single hour. These results are still being compiled and will be announced on the Breathing Places website soon. More

Colchester park named the country's best
Castle Park in Colchester has been named Britain Best Park. A panel of trade and consumer horticultural journalists praised the park for providing beautiful green space all year round, as well as its fantastic historical features. Regional winners included Kelvingrove Park in Glasgow, Bute Park in Cardiff and Garth Park in Bicester.

The Britain’s Best Parks competition was started in 2003 by Briggs & Stratton as part of a global network of competitions recognising and rewarding excellence in park design and maintenance. Similar competitions run in six countries including Sweden, Germany, Poland, France and Italy. More

A guide to working with your council on green issues
The Community Development Foundation has published a new guide for community and voluntary groups who want to build and maintain a positive relationship with their local authorities. Written by Agnes Gautier, Green Up! outlines five ways to work with your council on the environment and sustainability. The five sections cover national indicators, sustainable community energy, local development framework, civil contingencies plans and working on your own agenda with the council.

The document also comes with an endorsement from the Plain Language Commission, which has presented it with an award thanks to its easy to understand style. More

Southport opens new £1.78m community woodland
The Forestry Commission has transformed two former landfill sites in Southport to create a new £1.78m community woodland. The project was funded by the North West Development Agency and will create new cycle track, mountain bike skills course and wildlife habitat. More

BTCV's Carbon Army marching on
BTCV’s Carbon Army have undertaken over 6,000 days of climate change action in the UK, doubling their original target of 3,000. To coincide with the UN Climate Change Summit in Copenhagen this month, BTCV had aimed to run 3,000 days of climate change action - one day for each delegate at the conference. Volunteers have been so enthusiastic in planting trees to lock up carbon, managing watercourses to mitigate flood risk, and growing food to cut C02 emissions from food miles, that the size of the original totaliser had to be doubled.

The Carbon Army is funded by the Peacock Trust, and groups can get involved by attending an event or pledging to support BTCV’s aims of reducing our carbon footprints and mitigating the effects of climate change through practical conservation action. More

NHS launch forest campaign
The NHS is piloting a project which could see one tree planted for each of its 1.3 million employees. NHS Forest is a national project coordinated by Campaign for Greener Healthcare, aiming to improve the health of patients, staff and communities through use of green space and targetting the creation of woodland that includes art, food crops and mapping. The project currently runs in 10 sites across England, with more planned for Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. More

Last minute Christmas gift ideas
With Christmas almost upon us, the GreenSpace community team have come up with three websites to visit for last minute alternative gift ideas:

1. National Forest: The National Forest's plant a tree gift costs £25 and includes an invitation to a special tree planting event, a choice of tree to plant and a personalised certificate commemorating your planting.
2. Woodland Trust: gift options from the Woodland Trust include calendars and stationery, along with the opportunity to dedicate trees and areas of woodland.
3. World Vision: World Vision allows shoppers to buy truly must have gifts such as mosqiuto nets and blankets for those who need them most.

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Events

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Community Profile

Feedback

COMMUNITY BENCH is the online newsletter of GreenSpace aimed specifically at community groups. It reports on community green space issues across the country and the work of organisations and groups that take an interest in the green spaces.

Past issues can be viewed in the community news section of our website at:
http://www.green-space.org.uk/community/cgparchives.php/

Written by: Matthew Hartgrove, Network Officer, GreenSpace
Edited by: Shaun Lowman, Communications Assistant, GreenSpace



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The COMMUNITY BENCH e-newsletter is published and circulated by GreenSpace. Any comments, opinions or views expressed in the COMMUNITY BENCH do not necessarily reflect the views of GreenSpace Forum Ltd, its staff, partners or funders. Replication or duplication of this publication, in whole, or in part, without written permission is strictly prohibited. © 2009 GreenSpace.