Parkrun is collaborating with green space charity Fields in Trust to celebrate the wellbeing benefits that the UK’s 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, A local green space is #notjust a park, it has so many more intangible benefits, emotions and memories that contribute to our physical health, mental wellbeing and community contacts. 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.
Speaking on the joint campaign, parkrun’s global head of health and wellbeing Chrissie Wellington said: “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. 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".
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. For thousands of us the park was a daily lifeline. 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,” says Helen Griffiths, CEO of Fields in Trust.
Park users are invited to share stories of their own much-loved local parks at the campaign website www.fieldsintrust.org/notjust and share on social media using the hashtag #notjust.
