1 / 7

The Importance of working together

The Importance of working together. National Federation of Parks and Green Spaces Dave Morris, NFPGS Chair. National Federation of Parks & Green Spaces. Grassroots movement of over 6,000 local groups Protect and improve UK’s green spaces Community voice countrywide

eportwood
Download Presentation

The Importance of working together

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. The Importance of working together National Federation of Parks and Green Spaces Dave Morris, NFPGS Chair

  2. National Federation of Parks & Green Spaces Grassroots movement of over 6,000 local groups Protect and improve UK’s green spaces Community voice countrywide Crisis ‘State of UK Parks’ Report Campaigning for Adequate Resources Manifesto for action Pressure on government Love Parks partnership Networking and promoting Forums Share knowledge and information Partnerships with green space organisations

  3. The Importance of Community Action • What Friends Groups achieve • Improvements to sites • Bringing in more money • Protection • More events and activities • Community empowerment • Amazing and inspirational stories! • Linking up Everyone is busy, but helping surrounding open spaces helps your own! What affects one open space, affects them all.

  4. Importance of a Community Forum • More city/town/area forums needed • Community voice and network is very powerful! • A Community Forum can: • Protect an area’s open spaces • Provide strategic community voice • Share news, knowledge and skills • Help new groups to start up • Attract new partners and links • Show the importance of volunteers to open spaces • A Forum is essential to defend and protect all open spaces in an area • Regional network brings together Forums and individual groups

  5. How to Start - and the benefits • Get your groups together, to communicate and help each other out • Get organised eg committee and constitution • Main partner is probably Council as the landowner – link with others too • Main benefits: • Information sharing with other like-minded groups • Dispelling myths between groups, and working together • Working in closer partnership with landowner to make positive difference • Getting voice of volunteers heard and acted on. Taking part in consultations • Defending jobs and reducing cuts to open spaces • A movement So far there are over 55 Community Forums in UK representing over 2,500 of the local groups

  6. Who is already out there? EXAMPLES • Friends of Glasgow Parks Forum formed 2014, 15 groups. Meet with Council to prioritise Friends and Council annual project plans • Stockport Greenspace Forum formed December 2000, 68 groups. Running training course for groups in partnership with council. • Bromley Parks Forum, set up for 10 years, 42 groups. Helped Friends Groups lobby over transfer of management of parks and green spaces • Doncaster GreenSpace Network formed March 2014, 12 groups • Birmingham Open Spaces Forum formed 2004 with around 130 groups. • Friends of Greenwood Community Forum formed August 2000 with around 17 groups. In 2010 the Forum became an independent constituted group, but now struggling with finding a new chair • Haringey Friends of Parks Forum, meeting bi-monthly since 2001. One of 17 such Forums in London boroughs, coordinated London-wide.

  7. What Now? • Start networking with your other local groups • Look at the possibilities for your area • Help out new groups to start up • Work together and get your voice heard • Join in with the new Regional Network • Stay in contact with new people met today • Share knowledge • Link up across the UK through NFPGS TOGETHER WE ARE STANDING UP FOR ALL THE UK’S PUBLIC GREEN SPACES!

More Related