PARKS SECURE £34.5M LOTTERY CASH
Parks across the UK have been awarded £34.5 million in lottery funding.
A total of 13 parks received grants from the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) and Big Lottery Fund to pay for restoration work and revenue-generating social enterprises.
It comes after a report from HLF found public parks are at risk of decline, with 86% of managers reporting cuts to their budgets since 2010.
The new grants will fund restoration of historic features such as bandstands and gatehouses. The money will also help parks become more sustainable, by funding projects such as cafes and skills training for volunteers.
Carole Souter, HLF chief executive, said: "Our report revealed how valued public parks are by people and communities and how essential they are to our physical and emotional well-being.
"That's why HLF and the Big Lottery Fund have invested over £700 million in parks since 1996.
"But the report makes clear that our parks face an uncertain future and so it's exciting to see how this new investment is going some way towards helping find new ways of funding and maintaining them so they are still here to be enjoyed long into the future."
Among the parks to receive funding is Hemel Water Gardens, in Hemel Hempstead. Dacorum Borough Council and the Friends of Jellicoe Water Gardens received £2.4 million to transform the Grade II-registered landscape and remove it from the English Heritage 'At Risk' register.
Moor Park in Preston, classified as a Grade II* site on the Register of Historic Parks and Gardens, received £1.7 million to restore historic features such as its grotto, bowling pavilions and observatory, and build new facilities including a skate park.
Other parks to receive joint funding from HLF and the Big Lottery Fund are:
:: Victoria Park, Ilkeston, £740,800;
:: Ampthill Park, Bedfordshire, £606,800;
:: Cassiobury Park, Watford, £4,534,900;
:: Avenue House, Finchley, £2,154,700;
:: Gunnersbury Park, Ealing, £4,671,000;
:: Beckenham Place Park, Lewisham, £4,908,400;
:: Beddington Park and Grange, Sutton, £3,203,900;
:: Northwood Cemetery Heritage Project, Isle of Wight, £1,064,000;
:: Kearsney Abbey & Russell Gardens, Dover, £3,389,400;
:: Pearson Park, Hull, £2,343,600.
HLF is also solely funding a grant of £2,660,800 to Levengrove Park, in Dumbarton.
