A week-long event to help people love where they live is kicking off tomorrow. The Love Parks event for 2024 starts on Friday, July 26 and runs for seven days, hoping to encourage people to celebrate and use their local green spaces.
Organised by Keep Britain Tidy, the group say the event is done to “highlight the vital role green spaces play in boosting the health and wellbeing of residents and communities”.
A recent study found that children who grow up in greener environments have higher lung function.
Under the direction of the Barcelona Institute for Global Health (ISGlobal), 35,000 children's data from eight different European nations were examined in this study, including Denmark, France, Italy, Lithuania, Norway, the Netherlands, Spain, and the UK.
It discovered a "strong" correlation between improved lung function and early childhood exposure to green environments.
With more than 3,000 parks in London, a lot of work goes into keeping green spaces open and pleasant for Londoners.
Here is everything we know and how you can get involved.
What is it and when is it running?
It is a nationwide, week-long event and its main role is to encourage “everyone to get out and enjoy all that its beautiful local parks and green spaces have to offer”.
This year, it takes place from 26 July to 4 August.
Throughout the week, there is a range of family-friendly events happening across a range of local parks across the country.
Organisers said: “Parks and green spaces are amazing! Here’s three great reasons why we ‘Love Parks’: healthier communities – parks encourage physical activity, reduce stress, and provide spaces for social interaction, leading to happier and healthier residents and well-maintained parks become hubs for community events, fostering a sense of belonging and pride.
“Parks also act as natural filters, improving air and water quality while mitigating climate change impacts.”
How is it being celebrated?
This year Keep Britain Tidy are encouraging people to get out and about in their local parks.
They are also asking people to snap some pictures and share them to social media, explaining why you love your local green space using the hashtag #LoveParks with the official Keep Britain Tidy account sharing many of these pictures and stories throughout the week.
How to get involved with Love Parks Week
There are various volunteer options for people to get involved with this year.
From litter-picking and cleaning up the British coastline to raising awareness, more than 500,000 people took part last year. Depending on where you’re located, Keep Britain Tidy also has several regional projects that you can get involved with, ranging from family-friendly events to volunteer efforts.
People are also encouraged to organise their own events in their local green spaces, and if they need help in getting some ideas they can request a resource pack from the group.
