Park Champions
Health, nature and community focused partnerships to achieve real social value through Bristol's parks: In 2025 for every £1 spent, Your Park achieved £15.19 of benefits for people, communities and nature.
Your Park is Bristol City Council’s chosen charity for parks. We use parks as preventative infrastructure, delivering activity that improves physical and mental wellbeing while also generating wider environmental and social benefits.
Parks are central to social value: They are not just green spaces but crucial health and social infrastructure. Because parks are free, local and used daily, investment in parks is a cost-effective way to deliver preventative social value, particularly in communities facing inequality.
What partners achieve
Investment in a local, trusted VCSE with national relevance achieves measurable, place-based outcomes across Bristol. Our partners can volunteer, plus we will report on and celebrate your impact (B4SI-ready):
- Transformed health: Structured, professional-led weekly mental health sessions in parks (NHS-supported green social prescribing), plus volunteering and raising awareness.
- A step-change in access: Commissioning research to uncover barriers to park access and taking direct action to achieve change with - not for - communities. We have launched the UK’s first programme to transform national access; and deliver inclusive volunteering sessions for over 1,000 people every year.
- Local Nature Recovery: We introduce and care for up to 150,000m2 of habitat each year, in line with management plans. Your Park does not condone greenwashing. We partner with companies who understand the importance of long term care for communities and nature.
Partners invest in the only charity able to work in any local park. Through continuity and action, Park Champions enable us to spaces, locking in long term impact for nature and people.
Evidence this works
Our approach is evidence-informed. Since 2023 we have:
- Generated £4.49m in social value
- Improved wellbeing, activity and confidence, creating more than £7.3m in health related social value
- Supported progression into volunteering and work worth £2.2m
- Enabled 11,045 volunteer hours, valued at £160k
- Reduced loneliness worth £1.1m
- Helped deliver two fully accessible parks
- Reduced pressure on public services worth £191k
- Helped avoid therapy, hospital and GP visits worth £50k
- Created and restored 151,661 m² of habitat, valued at £189k
- Built strong cross sector relationships with 57 companies and 77 community partners