Friends get funding for city park

Lottery money for Eastside.

Eastside City Park is set to benefit from a £9,000 grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund after its Friends group was successful in a funding bid.

The money will be spent in the next year on a number of things which are aimed to get more people understanding, using and enjoying the Park, including new signage, a website, a series of self-guided walking tours, games equipment including a large chess set, and a series of consultation events to get feedback from Park users. The funding comes from the HLF’s Awards for All programme that supports community groups.

Eastside City Park is Birmingham’s newest public open space and is heavily used by a wide range of people, particularly students from the surrounding educational establishments, families going to ThinkTank and the Science Garden, people on their way to the Woodman pub, skateboarders and event organisers. It has benefitted from Birmingham City Council’s Active Parks programme, which encourages people to engage in a range of physical outdoor activities and will be expanded in Eastside next year.

Simon Linford, Chair of the Friends group, said “This funding is a great boost to the Friends who are committed to making Eastside City Park a place where anyone can come and enjoy a fantastic urban open space.”