Record number of UK parks win Award as scheme celebrates its Silver Jubilee

Green Flag Award marks 25 years of excellence as research shows just how important parks are to people.

Today, environmental charity Keep Britain Tidy, is revealing the names of the 2,127 parks and green spaces across the UK that have collected a coveted Green Flag Award for 2021 as the scheme celebrates 25 years as the international quality mark for parks.

After 18 months that have seen parks become lockdown lifelines, playing a vital role for people across the country as places to breathe, relax, exercise and meet friends and family safely, the news that a record number have achieved the Green Flag Award standard is testament to the hard work and dedication of those tasked with looking after these national assets.

As the scheme marks its Silver Jubilee, four of the seven  parks that received their first Green Flag Award when the scheme was launched in 1996 and have flown it every year since – Worden Park in Lancashire, Cockington Country Park in Torbay and Queen’s Park and Highgate Wood in London - will be raising their flags again today.

They are joined by parks and green spaces as diverse as the National Memorial Arboretum in Staffordshire, Scottish Power Renewables Whitelee Windfarm, Belfast Botanic Gardens and Bwlch Nant yr Arian in Ceredigion.

Research carried out by YouGov for Keep Britain Tidy over the summer shows just how important parks are to the British public.   

It reveals that having access to a quality park or green space helped improve people’s mental health with almost six in ten (59%) saying they felt less stressed when using the park and 55% saying they felt more positive in general. That’s why it’s important that parks are managed to the Green Flag Award standard

The survey also showed that more than half of people (53%) visit a park or green space at least once a week and more than nine in ten (93%) think that parks and green spaces are important to their local community.

Commenting on the announcement of this year’s winners, Keep Britain Tidy Chief Executive Allison Ogden-Newton OBE said:

“As Green Flag Award celebrates 25 years of raising the standard, Keep Britain Tidy is delighted to be the custodian of a scheme that does so much to ensure our parks and green spaces go from strength to strength.

At a time when parks have been at the heart of every community across the country it is perhaps not surprising that 95% of the public thinks that their local parks and green spaces need to be protected. This is why the Green Flag Award is so important. It ensures that parks and green spaces are managed to the highest standards and are safe and accessible for everyone to enjoy and we look forward to the next 25 years."

The Green Flag Award scheme, managed by environmental charity Keep Britain Tidy under licence from the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, recognises and rewards well-managed parks and green spaces, setting the benchmark standard for the management of recreational outdoor spaces across the United Kingdom and around the world.

In celebration of this year’s announcement, Keep Britain Tidy is asking buildings and monuments around the UK to #GoGreenForParks today to show appreciation for the spaces that mean so much to people. Landmarks including Alexandra Palace and Bradford Town Hall will be ‘going green’ tonight.

A full list of Green Flag Award-winning parks and green spaces is available here