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Fields in Trust and parkrun join forces to promote wellbeing

Charity Fields in Trust is collaborating with parkrun to celebrate the wellbeing benefits that the UKs parks and green spaces have delivered during the coronavirus crisis.  

The joint campaign invites park users to share stories of how important green spaces have been as places to exercise, relax, reflect and as a safe place to meet loved ones and connect with our friends and our neighbours.

The #notjust campaign identifies the different ways communities engage with outdoor spaces.

Park users are invited to celebrate their local green spaces by recording video clips or taking photographs celebrating what their local park means to them and their families and sharing the stories on the campaign website www.fieldsintrust.org/notjust and social media using the #notjust hashtag.

‘If there’s one thing to lift our spirits, it’s being outside in the open air, being connected to nature and moving our bodies,’ said parkrun’s global head of health and wellbeing, Chrissie Wellington.

‘We need parks more than ever before and this means taking steps to protect, value and, importantly, celebrate them. We are proud to join hands with Fields in Trust to do just that and would like to encourage everyone to get involved by sharing what your park means to you and the wonderfully diverse and amazing ways you have been using them over the past year. Together we can make sure that parks are here for us, and for all those who follow in our footsteps.’

As places for us to remain physically distanced but socially connected local parks have come to the fore this year, particularly as England returns to tier level restrictions.

Data shows increased usage of green space throughout the year, but the campaign also recognises that access to parks and green spaces is not equally distributed across the UK.

‘2020 has been an incredibly difficult year but imagine how much more difficult it would have been without our local parks,’ said Fields in Trust chief executive, Helen Griffiths.

‘For thousands of us the park was a daily lifeline. Now as we approach the end of that year – but sadly not yet the end of the crisis – we want you to join with us and our friends at parkrun to celebrate just how much we’ve all valued these spaces. Parks are one of the unsung heroes of the pandemic and if there was ever a time to show our appreciation for parks and how important they are to our collective health and wellbeing this is it! Let’s take this opportunity to work together to protect the future of these precious spaces because one they’re lost, they’re lost forever.’

Photo Credit – StockSnap (Pixabay)

Jamie Hailstone
Senior reporter - NewStart

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