Our plan for change
We won't stop until everyone can access parks' transformational health and wellbeing benefits.
Your Park is an independent charity which is here for you, whole communities, loved ones and our cherished green spaces. After all, our parks are where we commute, learn to ride a bike and connect with friends and family. They should be for generations to come.
We've come a long way
Since we launched in 2019, we've come a long way. We've:
- Established one of the UK's leading Green Social Prescribing services for complex mental health conditions, Roots to Wellbeing
- Reintroduced natural habitats to tens of urban parks across Bristol and Bath with the community, through our flagship Park Activator Programme
- Launched Parks 4 All, the UK's first project to transform access to parks for underrepresented groups such as Disabled people, unpaid carers and people from ethnic backgrounds.
- Celebrated and supported the hundreds of parks volunteers whom the quality of our parks relies upon.
But there's still more to do
Our communities, parks and green spaces need a variety of things to change in order for them to thrive. So we're focusing our strategy on three key areas: Health, Access and Nature.
Our mission is to empower communities and cultivate inclusive, nature rich and engaging park activities. We will continue to use Bristol and Bath’s parks to deliver positive social change through our key themes:
Health
Improving physical and mental health through holistic support services including green care, and outdoor activities
Access
Championing, enabling and consulting underserved communities to improve access to parks so everyone feels safe, enjoys and benefits from parks
Nature
Creating, enhancing and sustaining natural habitats through community gardening, enabling our diverse communities to respond to Ecological Emergency Action Plans and benefit from nature-rich spaces
Parks are not achieving their full potential
Parks are not achieving their full potential in benefitting community health, wellbeing and cohesion - not everybody can access them.
So we help people least likely to use parks because they are not accessible for them including but limited to Disabled people, carers, older people, people from ethnic backgrounds, low income households, residents of top 20% Areas of Multiple Deprivation.
Our Theory of Change
Key outcomes we will achieve through this strategy include:
- Increased park use
- Parks are more accessible
- Underserved communities are involved in decisions about parks
- People feel their wellbeing has improved
- People have learnt new skills and feel more confident
- More species live in urban parks
- More people connect with nature close to home
- More people learn about nature and the environment
Join us and help thousands more people benefit from high quality, welcoming parks filled with nature, opportunities to be healthy and connect.
