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The People's Millions grant winners announced The People's Millions programme has awarded grants to 13 green space projects around the country. A total of 70 grants were distributed to a wide range of projects throughout the UK... |
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Woodland Trust Christmas card recycling scheme Not sure what to do with all your old Christmas cards? The Woodland Trust has teamed up with WHSmith, TK Maxx and Marks & Spencer to help you recycle your old cards... |
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Three resolutions for a greener new year It may only be the middle of January, but many new year’s resolutions have long since been forgotten. If you’d like to give it a second try, take a look at these three resolutions, which are good for you and the environment... |
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Spotlight on Friends of Queens Park
In a first for Community Bench, Community Profile Revisited talks to Steve Hyde, Chair of Friends of Queens Park, two years after first meeting him... |
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GreenSpace News |
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Subsidised places available for Sustainable Parks: Sustainable Futures conference |
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Funding news |
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The People's Millions grant winners announced |
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General news and features |
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Woodland Trust Christmas card recycling scheme |
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Events |
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January - April Guided walk series Organiser: The Royal Parks Location: London Contact: www.royalparks.org.uk/events The Royal Parks is running a series of guided walks across its properties. Booking is required. 3 March 2010 Sustainable Parks: Sustainable Futures Organiser: GreenSpace Location: Liverpool Contact: www.green-space.org.uk A one-day conference focusing on creating and managing sustainable parks and green spaces. 4 March 2010 Managing long-lapsed Ancient Ash Pollards Organiser: Ancient Tree Forum Location: Gloucestershire Contact: www.ancient-tree-hunt.org.uk A one-day workshop to discuss the dynamics of managing long-lapsed ancient ash pollards. 25 March Growing the Future Organiser: Growing Schools Location: Oxford Contact: www.growingschools.org.uk A one-day conference aiming to support all teachers, from early years through to secondary level, who are interested in expanding and improving learning outside the classroom in their schools. |
Community Profile [REVISITED] |
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Steve Hyde, Chair Friends of Queens Park, Castleford When we last spoke to Steve Hyde, Chair of the group back in 2007, he explained that the group had first been set up in 1999 as a response to the poor state of the park. They had undertaken a number of projects up to this point, focusing not just on the park, but also tackling local social issues to help the wider community. How have the last two years been for Queens Park? What have the main projects and achievements been during this time? Over the last two years our group has focused on consultation and exploring new pathways with statutory and non-statutory groups. Apart from our £90,000 contribution to the development of the MUGA (multi-use games area) in 2007, we also paid for two youth workers to collaborate with over 200 young people in order to determine our group’s future direction. What would you say is the main difference in the park today compared to when the group was set up 11 years ago? Our consultations in 1999 and 2007 have enabled the group to gain perspective on the major difference that we have made to the community. It appears that the near daily provision of a body of people that cares about the park and visitors generates a renewed feeling of security for park users. Statistics tell us that in 1999 the park had around 9,000 visitors; in 2009 we estimated that figure to have risen to 90,000. What advice would you give to groups trying to raise funds for projects or running costs? Raising funds in today’s climate has become harder than ever, but this does not mean to say that a group cannot function due to a lack of finances. Being successful in raising funds must go hand in hand with evidencing and having the necessary skills within the group in order to develop and put into practice a group’s governance structure. Many groups without paid staff such as ours can operate quite well on an income of around £500; it is merely a matter of how you go about raising this amount. We started by making calendars and went on to manage a small cafe area in the park, as well as buying several marquees to hire out for events and applying for small grants. It can often be hard to maintain groups once the initial project or work has been undertaken, has Queens Park had any problems retaining members of the group? Several members have left over the years and new members have come on board, with membership standing at roughly 12 volunteers per year. I can say that within many voluntary groups you will always find at least one person who is the driving force. In my view this person, whoever it may be, determines the lifespan of a group. You have started to hold larger events in Queens Park. What advice would you give to other groups looking to hold events in their park? Good preparation is the key; come the day of the event you can do very little to alter the direction of proceedings. Try if possible to work with other agencies and your local authority, as they may have far more resources and expertise to help you enhance your event. What projects do you hope to undertake in the next two years? Our Chill Zone project, which we hope will be completed this year, has stemmed from the consultation that we had in 2007 with young people. We are already working with Nacro (the crime reduction charity) to develop several areas in the park, and we are also working with the local authority on the development of exercise activities around the park’s perimeter. I hope to be in talks soon with the local authority and others in developing a more suitable base within the park for 2012. Such has been the interest in our over 50s winter bowling sessions that we have had to set them up as an affiliated extension of our group. This group now has regular meetings and reports back to our group during meetings. With a membership of over 110, the bowling group has been just one of our great success stories. For more information on the Friends of Queens Park, visit www.queenspark.btik.com. ^^top |
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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. |
