Friends of Starbank Park – Page 2 – The NEN

Halloween at Starbank Park

Coffee Morning at Starbank Park

Saturday 25th September 10am – 12 noon

Royal seal of approval for Starbank Park

Latest Green Space Index launched by Fields in Trust

Their Royal Highnesses The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge launched the latest Green Space Index yesterday during a visit to Starbank Park.

The visit came ahead of COP26, which will be taking place in Glasgow later this year, with today’s event one of a number of projects with a positive effect on climate change that The Duke and Duchess have visited across Scotland.

Urban parks and green spaces boost air quality, support habitats and mitigate the effects of climate change.

The Green Space Index is Fields in Trust’s annual barometer of publicly accessible local park and green space provision. First launched in 2019, this third release once again highlights the inequities in provision across Britain.

Despite their value for health, wellbeing, community and environment, some parts of Britain have access to half the green space as others – Scots enjoy 38.18 sqm of provision per person whilst for residents in London the figure falls to just 19.53 sqm.

Seven of the nine English regions do not meet a minimum standard of green space provision as measured by the GSI Score, and whilst both Scotland and Wales do meet this minimum standard their scores have both fallen over the last twelve months.

Areas with the least provision tend to be those with a higher incidence of deprivation – precisely the communities who benefit most from green space access.

Across Britain, 2.78 million people live further than a ten-minute walk from their nearest park or green space. That’s the finding of the latest Green Space Index which reveals that, despite their vital role in the nation’s wellbeing during lockdown, our much loved local parks are not equally accessible to all.

The findings of the Index were reviewed by Fields in Trust President, HRH The Duke of Cambridge who was visiting Starbank Park with HRH The Duchess of Cambridge as part of their tour of Scotland.

The Duke and Duchess met volunteers from the Friends of Starbank Park and local residents of all ages for whom the park was a sanctuary during the coronavirus lockdowns as a place to play, exercise, relax and reflect.

Yesterday’s event also saw Edinburgh’s Lord Provost, Frank Ross, unveil a new commitment by The City of Edinburgh Council which will ensure almost everyone in the city lives no more than a ten-minute walk from a green space which is legally protected for good.

Starbank Park is one of 34 already protected with Fields in Trust by The City of Edinburgh Council and today’s announcement by the Lord Provost means that figure is set to grow.

The Council will protect a further 25 green spaces, serving communities who do not already have a protected space close to home, to ensure almost everyone in the city lives no more than a ten-minute walk from a park or green space which is protected for good.

Edinburgh’s Lord Provost, Frank Ross, said: “Edinburgh is already a wonderfully green city, and we want to ensure it remains that way for generations to come.

“I’m extremely pleased to announce that the City of Edinburgh Council will be looking to partner with Fields in Trust in protecting in perpetuity a further 25 green spaces – adding to the 34 already protected.

“This will mean that almost everyone in Edinburgh will be within a ten-minute walk of a protected green space, ensuring that for years to come citizens are guaranteed a lifetime of opportunity for activity, play, learning, recuperation and community.

“Scores of volunteers across the city work alongside the Council to support our parks, green spaces and cemeteries. We are very grateful to Friends of Starbank Park their ongoing hard work and dedication and we will continue to work with them to make sure these important areas are preserved for the benefit of our future generations.”

The City of Edinburgh Council will protect a further 25 green spaces for good – taking their total to 59 local parks – to ensure nearly all the city’s residents live no more than a ten-minute walk from a protected green space.

In taking this commitment the city council has become the first local authority in Scotland to adopt such a bold vision for their green spaces and follows in the footsteps of Liverpool City Council.

Discover the Green Space Index findings near you using our interactive online map covering the whole of Great Britain.

EXPLORE THE MAP

Local groups receive awards for Keeping Scotland Beautiful

The efforts of 14 Edinburgh groups have been acknowledged by environmental charity Keep Scotland Beautiful at an online seminar yesterday.

North Edinburgh is well represented among these green-fingered groups, with awards for Drylaw Neighbourhood Centre, Fresh Start Growers, Friends of Granton Castle Walled Garden, Friends of Lauriston Castle Estate, Friends of Starbank Park and North Edinburgh Arts Gardening Group.

The other capital groups to receive awards are Balerno Village Gardeners, Craigentinny Community Gardening Project, Craigentinny Primary Parent Council, Friends of Morningside Cemetery, Friends of Saughton Park, Inch View Care Home, Inspiring Hillside and Northfield Community Growing Group.

Annually Keep Scotland Beautiful runs two community environmental improvement programmes in partnership with the Royal Horticultural Society; the competitive Beautiful Scotland campaign and the It’s Your Neighbourhood initiative.

In total 197 groups, those who would in previous years have been out creating and maintaining community gardens or allotments, looking after habitats for wildlife and adopting streets, have been issued with Certificates of Recognition for the work volunteers and supporters did manage to carry out to brighten up and pull their neighbourhoods together during this year’s health pandemic.

A full list of the 14 groups from Edinburgh can be found in the attached table (below).

Edinburgh-groups Download

Faced with the challenges of 2020, there has never been a more important time to recognise and celebrate the achievements of communities and individuals across Edinburgh.

Throughout lockdown and the following months, groups have worked tirelessly to improve their communities through horticulture, environmental responsibility and working in partnership for the benefit of residents, visitors and our natural environment.

Despite circumstances this year, 47 new entrants were welcomed to the network, and although judging and mentoring visits were not able to take place due to restrictions across Scotland, groups were still supported with online seminars, networking events, question and answer sessions and a weekly e-newsletter.

Barry Fisher, CEO of Keep Scotland Beautiful said, “We know that lockdown resulted in many people reconnecting with green and blue spaces local to them. Yet, it has also been a particularly challenging year for the communities who strive every year to protect and enhance the places they live and work in.

“We have been amazed by the desire of communities, volunteers and local authorities to stay connected, motivated and inspired by each other, all with a steadfast determination to do things to make a difference, even if this had to be done differently this year.

“I’d like to thank all the groups in Edinburgh for the efforts they have made to keep Scotland beautiful this year.”

Although many of the groups had to stop or curtail their planned activities for the year, we have been blown away by what they have managed to achieve – whether that be setting up a food bank, encouraging and supporting others to grow their own, creating virtual garden tours, connecting their members through online catch ups and keeping their neighbourhoods bright and cheerful.

Andrea Van Sittart, RHS Head of Community Outreach said: “It’s truly inspiring that so many Scottish communities continued to support others in need this year.

“From a phone box larder in Muthill to planter kits for others in Inverkip, the groups have shown incredible creativity and ingenuity responding to the needs of their diverse communities through this challenging time. Congratulations to all groups on their amazing efforts.”

If you’d like to join the network in 2021, check out the website for inspiration and details on how to get involved:

www.keepscotlandbeautiful.org/BeautifulScotland or www.keepscotlandbeautiful.org/IYN

We LOVE our community!

Scottish groups receive special National Lottery 25^th birthday funding to bring their great community ideas to life

Scottish projects are among the lucky recipients of The National Lottery’s special 25^th birthday fund
Minishant Social and Leisure Club in Ayrshire, Kinellar Community Hall in Aberdeenshire and Friends of Starbank Park in Edinburgh are amongst the groups spreading love in their communities and bringing people together
#CelebrateNationalLottery25 invited applications from anyone with a great idea to make a difference in their local community

last year’s event at Starbank Park

The National Lottery is using Valentine’s Day to reveal some of the local champions who love their community so much that they applied for a special grant to do something positive locally – and were successful.

Over 200 projects in Scotland will receive money from the fund – called #CelebrateNationalLottery25 – after they applied to the £2 million pot last December. Among them is local group Friends of Starbank Park.

The fund, which has now closed, invited applications from anyone with a great idea to make a difference in their local community. Up to £1,000 was available to them, showing that no individual or idea is too small to make a big difference and bring people together across the Scotland.

An award of £250 means that the Friends of Starbank Park will be able to organise a very special Cherry Blossom Picnic at the picturesque community park in North Edinburgh.

Graham Buckley said; “This brilliant funding from The National Lottery means that this year in May we can open up this even further by inviting groups of disadvantaged people from surrounding areas to join our annual Cherry Blossom picnic events.

“We hope that this will lead to these groups and individuals, especially the children, start using this unique park on a regular basis in the future.”

An award of £1,000 to Minishant Social and Leisure Group means that the small village in South Ayrshire is able to host its first community gala for 20 years.

Jackie Murray said: “This is amazing, we have little amenities here and we are extremely grateful to have received this money from The National Lottery to help us organise our Gala Day in June this year.

“As many of us who live here will remember this used to be such a highlight that everyone looked forward to each summer. The money will be used to lease the grounds and buildings required, hire inflatables and the carriage for the king and queen. Our Gala Day will see neighbours of all ages coming together to socialise and I can’t think of a better way to pull community spirits back together.”

In Aberdeenshire, Kinellar Community Hall receives £1,000 to organise a very special party for the local community which will celebrate the hall’s 15^th birthday.

Kirsty Quin said: “What a wonderful way to celebrate our community hall’s birthday. We are having an afternoon tea party on 29 February with lots of entertainment and a performance from the local school choir.

“The hall is in the heart of our village and this event will be a very special way for the whole community to get together. Thanks so much from all the Kinellar Community Hall staff and board.”

The National Lottery Community Fund Scotland Director, Neil Ritch, said: “It’s fantastic to see people’s love for their communities inspiring them to use National Lottery funding to make great things happen – we’ve been blown away by all the great ideas.

“#CelebrateNationalLottery25 is supporting a wide variety of projects across Scotland this year, all bringing people together to show the impact that small grants can make.”

Thanks to National Lottery players, more than £40 billion has been raised for good causes in the areas of arts, sport, heritage and community over the last 25 years.

#CelebrateNationalLottery25 is funded and delivered by The National lottery Community Fund, the largest funder of community activity in the UK.

The #CelebrateNationalLottery25 fund marked the culmination of a major campaign by The National Lottery celebrating its impact over the past 25 years and thanking players for contributing £30 million to good causes every week.

The National Lottery Community Fund is responsible for giving out money raised by National Lottery players for good causes. Last year it gave out over £36m of National Lottery funding to community projects across Scotland. Over 1291 projects benefitted from this, enabling people and communities to bring their ideas to life.

To find out more visit www.TNLCommunityFund.org.uk