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 […]
Strengthening Groups
Greenspace Partnership Working between Friends Groups and Landowners and Managers
Effective partnerships – between on one hand Friends and community groups and on the other hand site landowners and managers – ensure that both parties understand and try to meet each other’s needs. This is not always easy! It can take several years of working together before a good partnership can be created. But Friends […]
Making our groups stronger and more diverse
What does a strong and diverse Friends group look like and why is it important?
Setting up a Friends’ Forum
Greenspace friends’ and community groups usually find it very useful to be in contact with other similar groups in their area – to share news and experiences, and raise the profile of our activities and common aims. There are many Friends’ Forums for towns and areas all over the country, with more being created all […]
Recruiting and Managing Volunteers
Traditional routes to volunteering are changing and groups are competing for volunteers. Those who donate time want to know it is well spent, that work is well organised and their contribution is valued. It is important volunteers are clear about their roles and the support they can expect from a group.
Community Empowerment Conference for Parks Community UK
40 reps and members of active greenspace Friends and community groups came together in what may have been the first ever UK green space community empowerment conference. Workshops and discussions centred on empowering groups and sharing knowledge.
Bromley Park Friends Toolkit
The Bromley Park Friends Toolkit provides guidance and information to help you find the appropriate place or person to solve problems in or associated with your green space, whether rural or urban. It does not attempt to prescribe how or what every Friends Group should do, the intention is to provide a starting point for “how do I?”
questions.
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.
What is community empowerment and how can we make it happen?
What does empowerment in green spaces look like?
Friends of Central Park dog show
Central Park in Peterborough has a large population of dog-walkers. The Friends Group organised the parks first fun Dog Show in 2016 and it continues to go from strength to strength.