Young people, parents, and families in South Gloucestershire are being invited to download a free parks activity resource that will help young people to stay connected to their local park as well as keeping them entertained during the summer holidays.

The Future Proof Parks ‘Summer Activity Challenge’ has been designed for both existing young volunteers and budding young parks enthusiasts to inspire young people across South Gloucestershire to get more involved with their local park in the summer holidays and beyond.

Future Proof Parks is an initiative to get more young people involved in preserving the heritage of their local park by teaming up alongside Friends of Parks Groups.

Since the Covid-19 pandemic, usual programme usual programme activities, such as volunteering alongside their peers and Friends of Groups, are currently on hold.

The challenges have been designed by community charity, Groundwork with the support and guidance from the Groundwork Youth Advisory Board, as well as young people who are already enrolled on the programme.

Activities are broken down into time categories – ranging from 15 minutes to over an hour – including designing posters, creating video tours and maps of the park, and embarking on a heritage research project to find out more about the history of their local park.

Young people are also encouraged to look after their mental health and wellbeing by exercising and looking forward to the future by writing plans for future events at the park once Covid-19 restrictions are lifted.

Graham Duxbury, Groundwork’s national chief executive, said: “Over the past months we’ve seen just how important our local parks and greenspaces have been to our physical health and mental wellbeing. "We’ve also seen young people volunteering their time to support those in their community who need extra help.

"As we emerge from the pandemic, we want to harness this commitment so that young people can play a more active role in managing these vital community resources.”

The programme is funded by The National Lottery Heritage Fund programme, ‘Kick the Dust’ and is run by community charity, Groundwork with support from delivery partners, Fields in Trust and National Youth Agency.

Download the challenge document and find out more about the programme here: https://www.groundwork.org.uk/fpp-news/future-proof-parks-summer-activity-challenge/