On Tuesday 18th November, the event called Public Parks and Green Spaces: Future Financing took place at Alexandra Park, Oldham, where professionals came together to talk about exciting new projects and spaces in Greater Manchester. A number of places across the UK are developing alternative ways to secure and enhance the future of green spaces for the benefit of the public in the long term.

As part of this event, Oldham Council showed how their parks and green spaces are being managed and funded in a different way to meet community needs and their aspirations for the park over the next generation. This included the re-development of a new ECO Centre at Alexandra Park, the new 160 acre Northern Roots project and growing hubs.

National Trust and National Lottery Heritage Fund talked about their Future Parks Accelerator, a UK-wide £10m strategic initiative supporting up to eight local authorities and communities to develop and implement bold funding and management solutions for all their green spaces.

What was the event for?

Financing Future Parks brought together key stakeholders involved in funding, management and delivery of parks and green spaces. Parks professionals shared learning from a range of original projects which are considering future financing models.

There was plenty of opportunity for discussion and networking and the team were able to enjoy a tour around Alexandra Park, the proposed ECO Centre and Northern Roots site.

Speakers and contributors included:

• Beth Sutcliffe, Programme Manager, GM Moving

• Krista Patrick, Natural Capital Coordinator, GMCA

• Glenn Dale, Head of Environmental Services, Oldham Council

• Hannah Williams, Digging for Health Coordinator, Oldham Council

• Anna Da Silva, Project Director Northern Roots, Oldham Council

• Victoria Bradford-Keegan, Delivery Director Future Parks Accelerator, National Trust and National Lottery Heritage Fund

The event aimed to inspire others to consider future financing models and exchange best practice.

We hope that everyone who attended gained great insights into new financing models for parks and green spaces and enjoyed their tour of a fantastic area!

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