Nesta, the Heritage Lottery Fund and Big Lottery Fund have published the findings of an 18-month research project into how parks are funded.

The programme aimed to test ways for parks to source new and sustainable funding, including by fundraising and mobilising volunteers. The report highlights a number of case studies and concludes that there is “no silver bullet”.

Key recommendations from the report:

• For parks teams: involve people – parks users, local businesses and residents, and others who care about parks – in designing and delivering new ideas. Then test these ideas with small-scale prototypes and look for external support to address skills gaps
• For government and policy-makers: encourage innovation and appropriate risk taking across the sector by sharing good practice and making sufficient funding available to support innovation
• For funders: emphasise funding models that focus on sustainability – like mixed grant/loan funds or endowments.

Methodology

Eleven parks received a share of £1m to find ways to increase funding and reduce costs.