Nine community spaces receive £4m Lottery-funded boost

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30 Mar 2010

Groundwork has awarded £4M funding for community spaces 

Community Spaces, which is managed by Groundwork UK and funded by the Big Lottery Fund, has today announced nine significant grant awards to community-led projects across the country.   Successful groups have each secured up to £450k of funding to transform green spaces in their communities.

At a time where the threat to funding for parks and green open spaces is rife, Lottery funding is enabling local people to take control of public spaces and transform them for community benefit.  The transformations range from a new state of the art natural play area in Torbay to a digital technology clad heritage park in Cleveland.

The following nine projects have been awarded a grant from Community Spaces;

• The Dean & Chapter of Exeter Cathedral will be using the grant award to realise their Vision of the Green – they will be transforming the area around the cathedral into an accessible green space, which will nurture wildlife.
• Saltash Waterfront Resident’s Association in Cornwall will be using funding to open up access to the Elwell Woodlands; the project will also see the installation of an iconic 20 metre Celtic Cross.
• Paignton Town Community Partnership will be using just under £450k from Community Spaces to transform a former green space on the Paignton sea front into a state of the art natural play park.
• All Saints Community Development Company will be using the funds to create an open village square off a busy High Street in Kings Heath, Birmingham. 
• Dudley Canal Trust will be revitalising and opening up access to the Dudley No.2 Canal Corridor, which is a 4-mile stretch of canal between Dudley and Sandwell.
• Friends of Tees Heritage Park in Cleveland will be improving accessibility to the park and installing a trail around the site using digital and Bluetooth technology.
• The Byker Centre in Newcastle has secured funding to create a community garden, which will include an amphitheatre, play facilities as well as more spaces for recreation.
• Halton Community Association will be creating a Heart of Halton using £450k from Community Spaces. The project will open up a green space for all ages, the facilities will include a toddler and teenager play area, a multi-use games area, a skate park as well as a wildlife area.
• Heeley Development Trust has planned to use the funds to create the Heeley Millenium Park in Sheffield. The local community hope to take more control of the existing local park and introduce better play facilities, BMX trails and community orchards.

Groundwork UK awards Community Spaces grants to local groups that want to improve or create parks and green spaces. Projects range from community gardens and play areas to outdoor gyms and nature reserves. 

Flagship grant awards were available in a one-off bidding round that closed in January 2009. The groups that have been selected to receive the grant awards had to demonstrate how their project will improve the space for local people as well as significantly benefit the wider community.

Tony Hawkhead, Groundwork UKs Chief Executive, said, “I am delighted to be able to announce these significant grant awards today. At a time when tightened Local Authority budgets are leaving many of our parks and outdoor recreation areas facing uncertain futures, the flagship grant awards will help secure much needed green spaces that will have a big impact in their local communities. I’d like to wish all the groups the very best of luck and look forward to seeing the finished sites.”

Peter Wanless, Big Lottery Fund’s Chief Executive, said, “The flagship awards announcement from the Community Spaces programme includes some exemplary projects that are set to help people of all ages enjoy and improve their local natural environment. The Big Lottery Fund’s Changing Spaces programme is already engaging communities in the regeneration of green spaces and in growing their own local food, and it gives me great pleasure to see these awards today.”