In October 2021, we were delighted to learn that we had been awarded a grant by "Your Park" to help us raise awareness of the Keynsham Abbey remains. The grant fund will be used to create a brand new website (you are viewing it!), update the information signs at the Abbey site and to plant medieval plants and herbs. It is hoped this will help to improve local knowledge about the Abbey and encourage visitors to this unique historical site.
Your Park
For more information about 'Your Park', please visit their website.
Press Release for Award
19 October 2021
PRESS RELEASE
Your Park Bristol and Bath announces projects to be funded by the inaugural Love Your Park Community Fund
Groundbreaking local projects in the Bath area have been awarded a grant from the first ever Love Your Park Community Fund helping communities to recover from the pandemic while cherishing their green space. The Fund will directly benefit 1000 people in the immediate vicinity of the projects as well as providing benefits for the wider community.
The innovative Fund is the result of generous donations from local people and businesses in support of community groups with an inspiring grass roots idea for projects that meet local need in their park or green space. These are the unsung local heroes in and around Bath who volunteer their time and go the extra mile for their community and their green space.
All the projects demonstrate how they will help communities to recover from the pandemic by connecting with those who do not regularly benefit from a green space, are socially isolated or without a garden of their own. One in eight households has no access to a private or shared garden and those of Black ethnicity are 2.4 times less likely than those of White ethnicity to have a private garden (Office for National Statistics, 2020).
Many of the groups came together during Covid-19 and the projects aim to enhance the wellbeing of communities, both physical and mental, improving access to nature and providing opportunities to socialise and be active. Their ideas will benefit both people and nature, protecting local habitats and creating wilder spaces in our parks.
Projects awarded grants in the Bath area are:
• Keynsham Abbey working group are a group of dedicated volunteers who care passionately about the historic remains of the Abbey and gardens within Keynsham Memorial Park. Many passers-by are completely unaware of the existence of the Abbey site and the group will help to bring the remarkable story of the Abbey to life by creating a website and hosting visitor events for the wider community. They will also use the funds to restore and replenish the medieval plants and herbs that would have grown at Abbey, rekindling its origins, improving local signage and celebrating its unique history.
Charlee Bennett, Director, Your Park, Bristol and Bath commented: “We’re so excited to be announcing the projects we’re supporting through the first ever round of the Love Your Park Community Fund. Local groups have told us just how vital their community green spaces have been during Covid 19. We are delighted to be helping them on their journey and can’t wait to see the impact they will have.”
The Love Your Park Community Fund was created through individual donations to the Your Park Bristol and Bath charity, via initiatives such as the ‘Big Give’ as well as support from local companies including C J Hole and Good Energy.
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Notes to editors: Your Park, Bristol and Bath was established in 2019 as an independent charity to make parks and green spaces better places to meet, play, learn, grow, breathe, and enjoy nature. It was previously known during its development phase as Bristol and Bath Parks Foundation. • For projects and news visit www.yourpark.org.uk For further information please contact info@yourpark.org.uk Twitter, Facebook and Instagram: @yourparkBB