Love Parks Week is 14 to 23 July 2017. It's run by Keep Britain Tidy and provides the perfect opportunity to demonstrate just how much Britain loves its parks, and shows you how you can protect them for future generations.
There are so many beautiful parks across Britain that may only be a stone’s throw from your home or work. They’re full of colour, with an abundance of tree and plant species to feast your eyes upon, as well as a variety of smells from numerous flora on show. Not only this, but our parks are home to so much wildlife, with several species adding to the biodiversity.
The best thing about our parks is how accessible they are, with numerous access points (depending on the size) and several paths that meander throughout, they provide routes for both walkers and cyclists and offer themselves up to activities including football, tennis and cricket. You may also find amenities including cafes, toilets, ice cream vans and if you’re extra lucky, water activities like canoeing and sailing.
Our parks have so much to offer, which is why we should all come together and celebrate them during Love Parks Week!
St James' Park London
What is Love Parks Week?
This year Love Parks Week is from 14 to 23 July, and provides the perfect opportunity to demonstrate just how much Britain loves its parks! It also aims to highlight how we’re damaging them and what we can do to protect them for future generations, so they can continue loving parks just as much as we do now.
Keeping Britain Tidy
Love Park’s Week is run by ‘Keep Britain Tidy’: a charity who aims to create a world in which people actively care for the environment. The charity started out aiming to prevent litter, but now works with businesses, the government and communities to protect the natural world around us.
Green Flag Awards
Love Parks Week is also in conjunction with the Green Flag Award, which recognises and rewards well managed parks and greenspaces. Think of these as the best in the business, so why not find one local to you and check it out during this fantastic week?
Riverside Park, Southampton
How can you celebrate Love Parks Week?
The most ‘visual’ way to celebrate is by purchasing a heart-shaped dry-wipe board from the ‘Keep Britain Tidy’ website and write why you love your park(s) on it, then share this across social media during campaign week - £5 from every purchase will be donated to the National Federation of Parks and Greenspaces.
The most ‘active’ way to celebrate is to simply GetOutside. Visit your nearest park or one that you have found using the free Greenspace layer on OS Maps, then go and explore. Bring the kids, the dog, take a picnic (just make sure you tidy up after yourself, or even better, why not go on a litter pick and clear up what others have left?)! You can also share your adventures across social media using: #LoveParks
Greenspace view of Riverside Park, Southampton. Winner of Green Flag awards.
OS Greenspace + Love Parks Week = The perfect combination
Unsure where your nearest park is? Tired of visiting the same park and looking to visit a new one? On a staycation and need somewhere to go on holiday? Then Love Parks Week 2017 is the perfect time to explore somewhere new!
To make it even easier to find parks around you, we have just launched our free Greenspace layer in OS Maps – a project developed in collaboration with government stakeholders to make greenspaces more accessible than ever before.
You can use the Greenspace layer in OS maps to look for the nearest parks around you, or find ones further afield that you can either walk or drive to. During Love Parks Week, why not find a different park to visit each day?
The OS Greenspace layer allows you to enjoy visiting parks, and makes them more accessible by showing you where their access points are and allows you to get you there safely by selecting a route that avoids possible dangers. This is especially useful if you’re walking there with young children.
Happy Love Parks Week!
