BLOG: Green Community Hubs – Spaces that matter for people that matter
By Graham Duxbury, Groundwork’s UK Chief Executive
From smartphones to supermarkets, the modern marketing message is that everything should be available in one place. It saves money, time and hassle (and of course builds customer loyalty). In planning and social policy circles the same thought process underpins the concept of the 15-minute neighbourhood – everything you need being easily available within a short walk. Drilling even further down, what if one place in a neighbourhood were able to respond to a wide range of the most pressing social, economic and environmental needs being faced by communities?
The good news is this place doesn’t need inventing – there are many of them in towns and cities across the country. However, they do need protecting and supporting.
Green Community Hubs are nothing new. For decades people have been reclaiming and repurposing unused and unloved pieces of land to create gardens, allotments and green spaces that provide a focus for community events and volunteering. Some famous examples date back much further still. What makes Green Community Hubs so important and relevant now is their ability to address a series of interconnected – and very current – issues.
With its forthcoming consultation on ‘access to nature’, the Government has recognised that we need to protect and increase the opportunity for people to understand and connect with nature close to where they live. Green Community Hubs bring nature into the heart of people’s neighbourhoods, providing valuable habitats but also protecting communities from the harmful impacts of climate change – mitigating extreme heat, air pollution and flooding.
They also allow people to enjoy the restorative health benefits that being immersed in nature and being active outdoors can bring. With the NHS encouraging social prescribing and testing neighbourhood health programmes as a way of tackling unsustainable demand, green community hubs provide settings and activities that can create health at a fraction of the cost we spend on treating sickness.
More recently we have also seen commentators calling for more community meeting places as the antidote to increasing division and polarisation. The Institute for Public Policy Research draw the link between the loss of community infrastructure and increasing isolation and extremism while the Young Foundation argue that community infrastructure should be seen as a vital part of our ability to withstand shocks and deal with civil emergencies.
Not every community green space will bring all these benefits, and there’s definitely a ‘secret sauce’ that maximises the chances of success. Key ingredients include Hubs being free to access, inclusive and welcoming – with volunteers and visitors valued however much or little they contribute. The co-location of services, with Hubs able to offer health advice, debt support, education provision and healthy food, adds value.
Local people need to be in the driving seat in determining how ‘their’ Hub is run but this needs to sit alongside professional support to ensure facilities are managed, funds are raised and the wider community is engaged.
Groundwork is helping communities across the country establish, grow and manage Green Community Hubs. We need help to sustain these hugely valuable assets and to bring the benefits of the approach to more places. If you’ve got something to offer – time, materials, money – please get in touch.
Find out more about the impact that Green Community Hubs are having on people and places across the UK and how you can support.
Notes to editors
For more information please contact: media@groundwork.org.uk
About Groundwork
Groundwork is a federation of charities with a collective mission to take practical action to create a fair and green future in which people, places, and nature thrive. We support communities and businesses to build capacity and resilience in order to tackle hardship, achieve a just transition to net-zero and help nature recover in a way that reduces inequality and leads to healthier, happier lives for all: www.groundwork.org.uk