Your Park Bristol and Bath Parks4All news!

We’ve got some incredible news to share! 🥳 As part of our Reimagining Parks journey, we’re delighted to share that we’ve been awarded nearly £250,000 from the National Lottery Heritage Fund to launch Parks 4 All, our ground breaking project to transform access to parks for Disabled people and carers in Bristol, Bath and beyond.

Parks 4 All is one of a kind. It aims to make parks accessible for Disabled people and carers and was co-developed with these communities following our major research project. Our research revealed stark findings. One in three local people are Disabled, or caring for someone with a disability. More than half of the research participants said that visits to the park had a negative effect on their mental health because of the barriers to access them and lack of adequate facilities, if they could go at all.  £250,000 to make parks more accessible for Disabled people and carers. Now, with major funding from the National Lottery Heritage Fund, over the next two years we’ll aim to change this by: Launching the UK’s first-ever community-led park accessibility assessments, designed with Disabled people and carers, not for them. Publishing a toolkit for parks groups and people across the UK to easily assess their local park and identify how they can make it more inclusive. Developing accessible, nature-based activities like sensory walks and gardening sessions in more than 10 local parks. Undertaking physical improvements like raised planters, accessible benches and smoother entrances in a handful of local parks.

For far too many people – around 1 in 3 in fact – parks aren’t places of peace or connection. They’re full of barriers. But together, we’re changing that. From research to #reimagining, from listening to leading – thank you for being part of this journey. As always, if you have any questions or comments, drop us a line. You can stay up to date on our latest events by following us on social media too. Your Park Bristol and Bath