Posts Tagged ‘successful projects’

Pride of Trowbridge…

Posted on 21st March 2013 by

Congratulations to the Friends of Biss Meadow Country Park from Trowbridge in Wiltshire, who have been awarded the Town Development Outstanding Achievement Award.

Their award, presented at the Mayor’s banquet in Trowbridge, recognises that their pond renovation project has considerably enhances the town.

The group reports that the joint winner was a £22 million refurbishment of the local library, so the £49,000 Community Spaces grant the group received looks to have been money well spent.

Working party Co-ordinator Sharl Adabashi walked the red carpet to receive the award certificate from the Mayor of Trowbridge, Coun John Knight.

Alan Cooper, Pond Project Manager, says: “Sharl has been organising and actively working at Biss Meadows since the main works were finished, to ensure the whole of that area of the Country Park is looking tremendous for our opening in the summer. So it was fitting that Sharl received the award on behalf of the group. Congratulations to everyone who has help in various ways to bring this two-year project to its completion.”

Bexhill Skatepark – The Movie

Posted on 4th December 2012 by

An impressive video produced by Thomas Newman and Connor McNally for the Deans Youth Project in Brighton, telling the story of the Bexhill Road Skatepark.

A £49,999 Community Spaces grant helped with the project, with further support from Brighton and Hove City Council and the Veolia Environmental Trust.

Top award for Flagship Village Square

Posted on 23rd November 2012 by

Time for celebration in Kings Heath, Birmingham, where the new Village Sqaure – a Community Spaces flagship project – has won the Best Use of Arts and Culture in Regeneration category in the Regeneration and Renewal Awards 2012.

“Kings Heath Village Square is a great little bit of community regeneration in semi-suburban Birmingham that already seems to have become the heart of its local area,” said David Powell, director of David Powell Associates and chair of the panel that judged this category.

The scheme was conceived as part of the development of All Saints Church in Kings Heath, south Birmingham, and aimed to contribute to the wider regeneration of the area by creating a new village square that would incorporate local art and provide a space for performances and exhibitions. The square was completed in November 2011 and has already been used for concerts, community craft markets, carol singing and New Year’s Eve celebrations.

The judges were pleased to see the leading role that local people had played in commissioning and designing the project through the All Saints Community Development Company. The square is used not only by the church, but also by a variety of community groups. Income generated by a local farmers’ market will be used to fund maintenance. The square incorporates artworks designed by local schools, youth groups, and senior citizens. A verse written by a local poet is etched into a decorative pathway within the square.

The judges felt that the square would provide long-lasting benefits: “We were impressed by the level of finish and quality,” says Powell. “It looked like it would stand good use over a number of years.

“It struck us that this project was relatively low risk with a probably low ongoing cost. It’s good to see something like this being done so well in what are remarkably tough times.”

For more on the awards click here

Rocking with the Big Boulder

Posted on 17th September 2012 by

Heeley Development Trust in Sheffield has teamed up with music promoters Four Rivers to hold The Big Boulder, a free party on Saturday (September 22) to launch new facilities in Heeley Millennium Park – a Community Spaces Flagship project.
The Big Boulder takes its name from the iconic climbing boulder loved by the city’s climbers.
The Trust intends that the festival of roots music will become an annual event.
The park, Sheffield’s largest community owned and managed space, has undergone an exciting transformation over the past 12 months, with a grant from the Big Lottery Community Spaces programme.
The grant and the subsequent work is the result of over 10 years work by staff at Heeley Development Trust. Impressive new features include swings in the playground, a woodland mountain bike trail and BMX pump track, and a community orchard, in addition to landscaping and planting work across the park.
Further attractions, including a series of new climbing boulders, discovery trails, picnic areas and a multi-use games area, are still to come this autumn.
Artists taking part at Saturday’s event, which runs from 12.30-6pm, include local funk band Tandem, blues singer Rita Payne, The Silver Darlings, hypno-folk duo Garforth and Myers, Sieben and Orchestre Ruffanti, who perform salsa versions of pop classics.
For more information visit www.heeleyonline.org

September project launches

Posted on 31st August 2012 by

A bumper crop of  Community Spaces project launches in September, including the launch of the Tees Heritage Park, one of our Flagship projects.

September 1bunting
Elmete Residents Association
Elmete Way
Roundhay
Leeds
LS8 2ND
Natural recreation area

September 1
Sacriston Community and Sports Trust
The Fulforth Centre
Front Street
Sacriston
Durham
DH7 6JT
Playground

Friends of Rectory Park
Church Lane
Thornhill
Dewsbury
West Yorkshire
WF12 0BJ
Path and access improvements in park

September 1
The Ardley with Fewcott Village Hall
Ardley
Bicester
Oxfordshire
OX27 7PA
Playground

September 2
Trefonen Playing Field Association
School Lane
Trefonen
Oswestry
Shropshire
SY10 9DY
Paths and environmental improvements

September 8
Friends of Hall Street Green
Hall Street
Cheadle
Cheshire
SK8 1PJ
Pathway and environmental improvements

September 8
Foxhole Recreational Ground Charity
Goverseth Road
Foxhole
Cornwall
PL26 7UP
Playground

September 8
Friends of Dartmouth Park
West Bromwich
West Midlands
B71 4AS
Community sensory garden

September 8
Friends of Skelton Grange
Skelton Grange Environment Centre
Skelton Grange Road
Stourton
Leeds
LS10 1RS
Nature and discovery trail

September 12
Friends of Stadt Moers
Stadt Moers Country Park
Pottery Lane
Whiston
Merseyside
L35 3RG
Environmental and park improvements

September 15
St James Home Zone Steering Group
St James’s Square
Bournemouth
Dorset
BH5 2BX
Public green space at heart of Home Zone

September 20
Tees Heritage Park
Preston Hall
Cleveland
TS18 3RH
Major development to create Tees Heritage Park

September 22
Menheniot Parish Plan Group
The Village Green
Menheniot
Liskeard
Cornwall
PL14 3QR
Environmental improvements/planting at heart of village

September 22
St Andrew’s Community Outreach
St Andrew’s Church
Ilford
Essex
IG1 3PE
Churchyard/community garden improvements

September 22
Vision for Wroughton
Devizes Road
Wroughton
Swindon
Wiltshire
SN4 9LW
Community garden/leisure space

September 22
Friends of Chinbrook Meadows
Amblecote Road
Lewisham
London
SE12 9RZ
Playground

September 23
Tees Heritage Park
Preston Hall
Cleveland
TS18 3RH
Second phase of opening celebrations, to include AGM of Friends of Tees Heritage Park

September 23
The Burgess Park Food Project

Burgess Park/Surrey Canal Walk
Peckham
London
SE15 6NF
Community garden

September 29
Frome Recreation and Open Grounds Supporters
Market Yard
Frome
Somerset
BA11 1BE
Bike track, play area, community art

September 29
St John’s Open Spaces Community Project
St John’s Road
Buxton
Derbyshire
SK17 6XN
Churchyard improvements

September 29
Viewpoint Action Group
Church View Flats Play Area
Church View
Filton
Bristol
BS34 7BT
Playground

Larks in the park

Posted on 23rd August 2012 by

The Heeley Development Trust in Sheffield has been busy over the summer organising a range of activities in the Millennium Park for children and families.

The Park, a Community Spaces Flagship project, is proving a major attraction for families throughout the area.

Simon Bartles from the Trust reports: “Children from around Heeley have come out in force to participate in our Come Out to Play programme of activities.

“The four sessions have each followed a different theme and offered local families the chance to play together, explore the new features in the park and simply enjoy being outdoors.

Whoosh! Zoom! Whee! was a workshop to create gliders and anything else that flies or floats in the breeze.  Ahoy there me hearties! was a day of pirate-themed fun – fancy dress picnic, crafts, treasure hunt and a visit from Captain Taggy, leader of the Millennium Park Pirates. Get Your Hunt On offered families the chance to scavenge on our nature hunt and explore the park in discovery trail.  And Raaa! was a noisy and colourful affair of bongos, percussion instrument crafting and face and body paint – tribal style.

“We’ve been successful in encouraging families to spend time in the park simply enjoying picnics and playing out, while promoting the fantastic new features that the park offers, including new swings in the playground and a mountain bike trail.

“As one parent commented, ‘Tuesdays have now become park day and we all enjoy whatever activity is running’, while another requested ‘more of the same please, this is great’.”

Blooming marvellous

Posted on 23rd August 2012 by

The Marchmont Community Garden in London has triumphed in the 2012 Camden In Bloom competition.

The garden, created by the Kings Cross Brunswick Neighbourhood Association, won first prize in the Best Community-Run Garden category.

The group, helped by a £100,000 Community Spaces grant, has transformed a derelict patch of ground in the gap between buildings in the busy London district into a vibrant community garden.

Ricci de Freitas, chair of Marchmont Community Garden, will be at Camden Town Hall on September 6 with colleagues from the group to collect the prize.

Well done to all.

Making a Bold statement

Posted on 13th July 2012 by

The sun – remember that?! – shone for the launch of the Heritage Trail at Bold Venture Park in Darwen.

The Friends of Bold Venture Park commissioned local sculptor Marjan Wouda to create a series of artworks – most of them suspended from trees – to commemorate a flood that swept through the area’s slums in 1848, killing 12 people.

Marjan says: “There was such a sadness about the story. Creating the sculptures has been quite a challenge. I wanted to make a series of sculptures unique to the park and I looked to the town’s history for inspiration.”

A BBC gallery of pictures gives a good impression of what Marjan and the group have created.

July/August project launches

Posted on 5th July 2012 by

Here’s the latest batch of Community Spaces project launch dates.
Don’t forget to let us know how the event goes. We welcome reports, photographs and videos that can be shared here on the blog and through our other outlets – Flickr, Facebook etc.

July 6
The Bythams Woodland Trust
Creeton Road
Little Bytham
Grantham
Lincolnshire
NG33 4PX
Playground

July 6
Friends of Mill Pond Meadow
Wakefield Road
Featherstone
West Yorkshire
WF7 5LA
Wildlife and meadow improvements, seating.

July 7
Friends of Glentrammon Recreation Ground
Windsor Drive
Orpington
London
BR6 6HQ
Playground

July 7
Northorpe Playing Field Group
Chapel Road
Northorpe
Lincolnshire
DN21 4AB
Playing field improvements, seating, play area

July 7
Friends of Bold Venture Park
Inverness Road
Darwen
Lancashire
BB3 2SF
Park improvements – labyrinth and water feature

July 8
Martley Recreation Association
Berrow Green Road
Martley
Worcestershire
WR6 6PQ
Multi-use games area, cycle path, play area improvements

July 8
Residents of Gordon Street Area and Friends of Vine Street Park
Vine Street Park, Park Street
Abbey Hey
Gorton
Manchester
M18 8SL
Park improvements

July 11
Operation Farm
Bayley Hall
Hyde Park
Lodge Lane
Hyde
Merseyside
SK14 4JX
Community orchard, outdoor classroom, wildlife trail

July 14
Headingley Enterprise and Arts Centre
Bennett Road
Leeds
LS6 3HN
Outdoor improvements at community centre

July 14
Middleton Community Group
Intake Square
Middleton
Leeds
LS10 4ED
Improvements to public square

July 15
Baxenden Community Forum
Haworth Park
Hollins Lane
Accrington
Lancashire
BB5 2LY
Restoration of museum gardens

July 16
Woodnook Residents
Oak Hill Park
Accrington
Lancashire
BB5 2BN
Restoration of park pond

July 21
Friends of South Hill Wood & Kingswood Glen
Westmoreland Road
Shortlands
Bromley
Kent
BR2 0RA
Woodland restoration, biodiversity, access works

July 21
Frome Recreation and Open Grounds Supporters
Market Yard
Frome
Somerset
BA11 1BE
Cycle track, play facilities, community art

July 28
Dawsons Play
Dawson Road
Barnard Castle
Durham
DL12 8JZ
Playground

July 28
The Deans Youth
Bexhill Road Park
Woodingdean
East Sussex
BN2 6QA
Skate bowl

August 4
New Wortley Residents Association
New Wortley Community Centre
40 Tong Road
New Wortley Town
Leeds
LS12 1LZ
Improvements to public space at community centre

August 11
Hartshill and Harpfields Residents Association
Hartshill Park Local Nature Reserve
Hartshill Road
Stoke-on-Trent
ST4 7SN
Pond renovation, access improvements, wildlife habitat creation

August 18
Pokesdown Green Revival
Christchurch Road
Pokesdown
Bournemouth
Dorset
BH7 6AX
Environmental and biodiversity improvements

Hats off to Lawn at the Lakes

Posted on 18th June 2012 by

Stroud Community Land Trust held a Victorian garden party to mark the completion of the Lake at the Lawns Community Spaces project.

Despite the weather, more than 400 people turned out for the event.

The site is the only remaining feature of a nine-bedroom Victorian country mansion and its grounds. Consisting of more than 300 trees, a stream, a network of footpaths and other historic features, its centrepiece is a small lake, which dates to the 12th century.

Stroud Community Land Trust has transformed what was a derelict patch of land into a valuable green space.

Stroud Community TV filmed at the launch, Coun Andy Read of Stroud CLT talks about the history of the site and outlines the restoration work that ahs been carried out.