1. Active Parks
A Birmingham
Co-production

2. Cotteridge Park 1997

3. Friends Groups

4. Birmingham Open Spaces Forum
How not to re-invent the wheel
• 130+ groups
• Share knowledge and experiences
• Collective voice for the volunteers looking
after the city’s open spaces
• 50 hours of labour donated per site per month
• £24k average funding raised per site
• Lobbying for the protection of our open
spaces.

5. Aesthetic Value

6. Nothing new
under the sun
An Act for establishing Parks in or
near to the Borough of
Birmingham - July 1854
“Whereas it would be greatly for
the Benefit of the Inhabitants of
the Borough of Birmingham that
there should be provided for their
Use Parks and Gardens for the
Purposes of healthful &
pleasurable Resort”

7. Volunteering and using a park is
physical activity

8. • Free, fun, local activities
• Suitable for the perpetual beginner
• No lycra required
• Activities chosen by Friends groups – suitable
for their community
• Volunteers integral to session delivery
• “Trusted voice”
Active Parks
Leisure Centres
without Walls

9. Zumba

10. Forest School

11. GreenFit

12. GreenFit Baby

13. Couch to 5k

14. Tai Chi

15. SwingFit

16. Volunteers – cheap not free