News / Bristol Parks
Major campaign to make Bristol’s parks more accessible and inclusive
A third of the population do not find parks accessible or enjoyable, according to a grassroots charity that is launching an ambitious campaign to change this.
Your Park Bristol & Bath (YPBB) is hoping to raise £30,000 to help achieve its mission of reimagining green spaces in the two cities and removing the barriers that prevent some 200,000 people from using them.
Charlee Bennett, chief executive of YPBB, says the statistics are “horrifying” for people who don’t have sufficient access to nature and explains that the campaign is about fostering inclusivity, safety and wellbeing.
is needed now More than ever
According to the charity, three key factors preventing people from having the confidence or ability to get out into their local parks are physical accessibility, personal safety and mental wellbeing.
Campaign goals for the next year include the creation of an exemplar park in Bristol that has been redesigned by a woman, with safety and accessibility in mind, and developing a programme of activities, such as sensory walks, supported play sessions, family activities and accessible gardening, in every neighbourhood in Bristol and Bath.
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Speaking ahead of the campaign launch on Thursday, Charlee says: “Parks are nature-rich, free to use, community assets that are good for everyone’s mental and physical health, but they have historically been designed through a very narrow lens. That means there are literally hundreds of thousands of people in our two cities – and millions beyond – who feel unable to make the most of their local green spaces.
“The statistics are horrifying for people who don’t have sufficient access to nature – for example, people growing up with little green space around them are 55 per cent more likely to develop psychiatric disorders in later life, at greater risk of things like depression, anxiety, and obesity, to name just a few things.”
Charlee Bennett says the Reimagining Parks campaign is “not just changing landscapes, it’s fostering inclusivity, safety and wellbeing” – photo: Your Park Bristol & Bath
Charlee adds: “It’s actually not difficult to make parks more accessible – it involves simple measures like making information available better, creating wheelchair-friendly access, having accessible toilets, clear sight lines for safety, introducing inclusive activities such as sensory walks and wellbeing activities. Unfortunately, many of these measures are not possible within the shrinking budgets that local authorities, who are responsible for the basic maintenance of parks, have available to them.
“Our Reimagining Parks campaign is not just changing landscapes, it’s fostering inclusivity, safety and wellbeing. This is a huge campaign for a small charity like ours to take on, but through our work with local communities over the last five years, we are absolutely clear on what needs to be done and we are determined to start delivering the changes now.”
The ambition is for everyone in Bristol and Bath to have a park that is accessible to them within a ten-minute reach of where they live, work or study.
Your Park Bristol & Bath hopes to expand its Roots to Wellbeing GP-referral programme for people with mental health issues – photo: Your Park Bristol & Bath
While YPBB is kicking off the year-long campaign with a two-month £30,000 fundraising challenge to get initial work underway, it hopes to attract further funding to deliver all of its targets. These include expanding the charity’s Roots to Wellbeing GP-referral programme for people with mental health issues to two new areas with high levels of deprivation and adapting the programme to provide regular out of hours activities, such as summer community gardening, and activities for families.
YPBB has already been working with disabled residents on work to improve accessibility at Hartcliffe Millennium Green, where the campaign will launch on Thursday.
Main photo: Strike Communications
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