We have been working with Islington and Camden Councils for the last 3 years to work with and support the VCSE sector on the Parks for Health (PfH) project, one of eight Future Parks Accelerator (FPA) projects chosen across the UK that are finding new ways to manage and fund parks and open spaces across entire towns and cities.
These four guides have been coordinated by Shared Assets, and written by the Healthy Parks Creators: members of voluntary, community and social enterprise organisations that have shared their wealth of knowledge to design guides to support other VCSE groups.
We hope that these guides can be used to help support and inspire activities, opportunities and events in parks by VSCE groups. You can find each guide below and more information about the Parks for Health project here.
Volunteer Good Practice Guide
This guide is for any group who organises volunteering opportunities in parks. The guide outlines how to create meaningful volunteer opportunities which add value to your group, and provide worthwhile experiences to individuals who are willing to give their time.
The Volunteer Good Practice Guide includes and covers:
- Inclusive recruitment and inductions.
- Volunteer support, management, development and feedback.
- Key policies and procedures.
- A learning library for further reading from VCSE organisations.
Marketing for Wellbeing Guide
This guide is aimed at voluntary, community or social enterprise groups, who operate or are looking to operate wellbeing activities in parks. The guide provides tools and advice to help market and promote wellbeing activities to local communities.
You can use this guide:
- As a resource providing ideas, tools and guidance for the everyday delivery of activities or services,
- As a tool for further further research or funding applications, using the website links contained in this guide.
Diversity and Inclusion Guide
This Diversity and Inclusion Guide aims to give advice and tools to voluntary, community and social enterprise groups. The guide is for anyone who organises or delivers activities in parks, such as 'Friends Of' groups, arts and crafts, cultural, or other activities in parks.
The Diversity and Inclusion Guide includes:
- Recommendations to improve diversity and inclusion in the governance of parks.
- Recommendations to be proactively inclusive when starting out and running a group.
- What to expect when diversifying a group.
- A learning library to find more resources on Diversity and Inclusion.
Walking Tour Guide
This guide is for anyone who currently organises or delivers walking tours in parks, such as Friends groups and park rangers. As well as, those who are interested in their local area and may be interested in leading their own walking tours.
The Walking Tour Guide includes:
- How to develop, design and promote a walking tour
- How to run a walking tour to ensure it is engaging and inclusive for your community
- An example of a successful walking tour from Bloomsbury Square to Square Walk, Camden.
With huge thanks to Let's Dance for design and graphics, the Healthy Park Creators, and Camden and Islington Councils.