Run-down UK parks and cemeteries in National Lottery windfall

29 Jun 2015 02:32 PM

Yesterday, the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) and Big Lottery Fund invested £34m in some of the UK’s most precious, yet tired green spaces. These include:

This money will transform these sites, some of which are situated in the country’s most deprived communities. Disused historic buildings will be restored and used as new cafes or public facilities, helping to attract more people and therefore more income. Innovations include public wi-fi installed in Peel Park, Salford and plans to harness renewable energy from the mill pond at Victoria Park, Stafford.

Heritage Minister Tracey Crouch said: "This investment will breathe new life into each of these 16 historic parks and cemeteries, making them great places for people to enjoy. Britain's famous green spaces are so important for giving people a place to get together, relax and exercise, and have a vital role in strengthening our local communities."

HLF’s Chair Sir Peter Luff, said, on behalf of HLF and the Big Lottery Fund: “We all benefit from spending time outside in the fresh air, so it’s vital that we look after our green spaces, particularly in dense urban areas. National Lottery players’ money will give a boost to each of these 16 historic places, helping make sure they have a great future.”

Bute Park Opens - a Beaut!
This month sees the opening of Cardiff’s Bute Park following a transformational project. £3.1m of HLF funding has helped create a new summerhouse café, restored the park’s treasured ‘animal wall’ and delivered a new education centre built from reclaimed bricks. 

Annual visitor numbers have increased 100% to over 2 million since the project began and the park now sits firmly within Cardiff’s Top 5 attractions on Trip Advisor.

Mike Harper, Chair of the Bute Park Friends Group, said “There’s now so much to do in the park and it’s such a relaxing and beautiful place to be. The whole City is delighted and grateful it has been so well looked after. It really is the green heart of our city!”

£1m for Great Yarmouth Venetian Waterways
These Venetian-style water gardens on the seafront of the popular seaside resort of Great Yarmouth opened in 1928. Constructed as part of an unemployment relief programme after the First World War, the waterways were known for their whimsical design and lavish planting schemes. With winding rivers for gondolas, rock gardens, picturesque bridges, thatched shelters and winter ice skating, this park was nationally famous. The waterways have deteriorated and have lost much of their special character since the 1980’s. A grant of £1m will restore the original planting and repair the thatched shelters, bridges and the boating lake walls. A new café will be opened and people will be able to train in gardening and traditional building skills.

A New Life for Belfast City Cemetery
The various monuments and headstones in this Victorian garden cemetery in West Belfast tell the story of finance, empire, the rise of Northern Unionism and the golden era of industry in the city. Tombs include Edward Harland of Harland and Wolff, the shipbuilding company responsible for the Titanic and Thomas Gallaher of Gallahers Tobacco - two figures who dominated 19th century industrial Belfast. Other notable features include Northern Ireland’s only Jewish burial ground, a ‘poor ground’ where 63,000 people are buried, and an underground wall built to divide Protestants and Catholics. A grant of £1.8m will restore the cemetery’s listed features, create a new visitor centre and provide information boards, maps and publications to tell the stories of this important site.

Statuesque: Winckley Square Gardens, Preston
One of the finest examples of a Georgian square in the North of England, Winckley Square was the most exclusive address in Preston during the 19th century. Residents included suffragette Edith Rigby and seven-times Mayor Nicholas Grimshaw. The gardens were originally divided into private lots for the square’s houses but were opened for public use in the 20th century. A grant of £950k will address many years of decline with plans to prevent flooding and new trees and shrubs. A statue of Prime Minister, Sir Robert Peel, will be restored and the square will be used for all sorts of activities including guided tours and a gardening club.

To date, National Lottery money to the tune of £770million has been invested in parks since 1996 and many of these major parks projects are now central to their local community’s sense of well-being.

Notes to editors