Further to our email last week the BPF committee are gathering as much information as we can on the budget situation and the likely impact on parks.
There will be an email later in the week with details of a meeting to discuss the issue, which will be on zoom on the evening of Wednesday 30th November, so save the date.
In the meantime, news of a very thought-provoking report from Your Park and a search for the longest running park group.
Not just a checkbox
Yesterday Your Park Bristol and Bath released their new report, Not just a check box, which explores equitable access to parks for disabled people & carers.
They work to address the challenges faced when communities try to spend time in parks, so they decided to commission their own research to better understand why certain communities are not able to visit their park regularly.
Two interconnected communities, unpaid carers and Disabled people, are among the groups least likely to spend time in parks. Through Not just a check box they have engaged with disabled people, unpaid adult carers and unpaid child carers from across Bristol and Bath to understand their experiences. While none of the results are unexpected, seeing them together and getting a real picture for the breadth of challenges these communities face is shocking.
The report also focuses on actionable recommendations, and they have announced their commitment to ensuring every Disabled person and carer in Bristol and Bath enjoys equal access to safe, inclusive and welcome parks and their free transformative health and wellbeing benefits. They are building a growing partnership of groups who are interested in working with them to improve park accessibility with a focus on the following areas over the next 3 years:
To create the first community-led park access assessments. These will look at the accessibility of parks as a whole and create an action plan that can be taken forward by the community. They will design a toolkit that can be used for any green space in the UK.
To run a programme of activities designed in partnership with disabled people and unpaid carers – such as sensory tours, supported play sessions, accessible nature volunteering and accessible sports.
To support Bristol and Bath’s 120 parks groups to help them improve their parks and make activities more inclusive including introducing sensory gardens and trails.
They will focus on areas with the highest levels of health deprivation, highest relative proportion of disabled residents and highest green space deprivation but of course the report recommendations and actions should be taken across all areas wherever possible.
They are holding an online briefing and discussion with Councillors and park volunteers about the report’s findings and how we can work together to improve things. Please join them if you can:
Information We hold for you:
Name: <<Name>>
Email: <<Email Address>>
Group: <<Park Group>>
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