An additional £100m has been earmarked for funding public parks over the next three years in response to the increased threat and challenges they face.

The Heritage Lottery Fund and Big Lottery Fund have pooled funds together for the new tranche of a revised People for Parks programme. Public parks are not a statutory service, and so face a real prospect of having their management and maintenance budgets cuts as local authorities look to save cash.

The programme, which encourages local communities to have increased control over the management of their parks, will now involve funding to local cemeteries and the provision of advice for long-term park management. Grants will vary in value from £100,000 to £5m.

Announcing the new money at the UK Public Parks Summit. Jenny Abramsky, chair of the HLF, said the move reflects the heightened need. “Today’s new Lottery money funding in our public parks could not be more needed,” she said. “We know parks are under threat from reducing revenue budgets and, as money becomes tighter, the risk of entering a cycle of boom and bust for our parks is very real.”

The revised People for Parks programme, the funders say, has also been simplified to make application easier.