#Chances4Children: Groundwork 'challenges' help young people access parks
Derren Hayes
Tuesday, August 18, 2020
Environmental charity Groundwork is spearheading an initiative to get more young people involved in using and preserving park space in their local communities.
The Future Proof Parks summer activity challenge has been designed for both existing young volunteers and budding young parks enthusiasts to inspire young people to get more involved with their local park in the summer holidays and beyond.
Future Proof Parks is an initiative to get more young people involved in preserving the heritage of their local park by teaming up alongside Friends of Parks Groups.
Since the Covid-19 pandemic, usual programmes of activities, such as volunteering alongside their peers and Friends of Groups, are currently on hold.
Groundwork has designed a set of 24 challenges that encourage young people to think about the nature and heritage of a park and how green space can support wellbeing. These have been put together with the support and guidance from Groundwork’s Youth Advisory Board, as well as young people who are already enrolled on the programme.
Activities are broken down into time categories – ranging from 15 minutes to over an hour – including designing posters, creating video tours and maps of the park, and embarking on a heritage research project to find out more about the history of their local park.
Young people are also encouraged to look after their mental health and wellbeing by exercising and looking forward to the future by writing plans for future events at the park once Covid-19 restrictions are lifted.
Graham Duxbury, Groundwork’s national chief executive, said: “Over the past months, we’ve seen just how important our local parks and greenspaces have been to our physical health and mental wellbeing.
“We’ve also seen young people volunteering their time to support those in their community who need extra help. As we emerge from the pandemic, we want to harness this commitment so that young people can play a more active role in managing these vital community resources.”
Future Proof Parks is funded by The National Lottery Heritage Fund programme, Kick the Dust and is run by Groundwork with support from delivery partners, Fields in Trust and National Youth Agency.
Find out more about CYP Now’s #Chances4Children campaign.
