SGOSF is an umbrella organisation that aims to give a collective voice to volunteers who are working on green and open spaces in the city of Sunderland. This includes parks, allotments, heritage sites, watercourses, community gardens and any other ‘green’ or ‘blue’ spaces.
Case Studies - ideas to inspire people to take action
The following are examples have been sent to us to showcase the kinds of things local park users can achieve. We hope they inspire others to take action too!
Community engagement and partnership working – Green Tides (Adur and Worthing Green Spaces Partnership)
1) How and when did you come together and form an area forum? Our forum, the Adur and Worthing Green Spaces Partnership, now known as Green Tides, was initially started and supported by The Conservation Volunteers (TCV). It was started in the summer of 2015 and constituted in August 2017. We work collaboratively, sharing ideas, […]
Providing a hub for groups to come together – Brighton and Hove Green Spaces Forum
1) How and when did you come together and form an area forum? The Forum was established in late 2017 following a number of different ‘green ‘ initiatives (Community University Partnership Project; CityParks’ Rangers campaign and the B&H City in Bloom driven VACOS project). It became apparent that there was lots of good work going […]
Community-led regeneration and co-management of a major urban park – Lordship Rec, Haringey
Parks are great places where all sections of our communities can come together to relax and enjoy ourselves. So that people can do that in Lordship Rec, Tottenham’s largest public park, we’ve helped transform it into a beautiful space for everyone to use. In 2012 following years of continuous effort, public consultation, campaigning, and partnership-working between the […]
Community Empowerment Conference for parkscommunityuk
Thursday 28th February 2019 – Tottenham, London 40 reps and members of active greenspace Friends and community groups came together in what may have been the first ever UK greenspace community empowerment conference. The event was called and coordinated by the parkscommunityuk project, which is a lottery-funded initiative – backed by a range of national […]
Building a network: Birmingham Open Spaces Forum
BOSF is a volunteer network organisation, set up at the end of 2004, that brings together all the community groups in Birmingham with an interest in green open spaces. Our main focus is supporting the volunteers who add value to the city’s open space.
Friends of Central Park dog show
Like many parks, Central Park in Peterborough, close to the city centre and originally a Victorian formal park, has a large population of dog-walkers. Some members of Friends of the Park are also dog-walkers and in early 2016 three of them approached the group to suggest we organise a fun dog show.
Dukes Meadows: Local people organise together to save their park
Dukes Meadows is a 170-acre site bordering the River Thames in Hounslow, West London. Twenty years ago, it was pretty derelict. The Pavilion had smashed windows and was covered in graffiti, kids joy rode cars on the meadows and then burnt them out. One weekend two cars were burnt on successive evenings up by the Band Stands. The community and volunteers are entirely responsible for regenerating the Meadows and transforming it from a derelict no go area into a lovely park.
Tree Care at Meadow Orchard
Meadow Orchard Project is 1.5 -2 acres in size. It’s a wild space, a disused area of wasteland that was developed by a dynamic group of volunteers to establish a nature conservation site based on permaculture principles for the public to enjoy and from which to learn. Permission was granted by the landowners, NHS Properties Ltd, in 2010. Haringey Council has listed the site as a grade one site for nature conservation.
Saving Turn Moss from non-community use development
Turn Moss is 2.7 hectares of open greenspace situated in Trafford, Greater Manchester between Stretford and Chorlton. In January 2018 planning permission was sought to develop approx. 25% as a training centre for Salford City Football Club which would have resulted in a sizeable area of Turn Moss being fenced off from public access.
