Hurst Farm Woods, Matlock
Work areas: activity planning, NLHF applications
We were appointed by Derbyshire Dales District Council to lead on developing the Activity Plan for Hurst Farm Heritage Trail. The plan focuses on providing opportunities for people from the low-income Hurst Farm Estate to engage with and look after nature on their doorstep. The project aims to establish a new 'Green Estate' social enterprise as a vehicle for delivering heritage activities, volunteering and woodland maintenance. Our approach focused on skills development and supporting the residents to develop their confidence and experience.
We were appointed by Derbyshire Dales District Council to lead on developing the Activity Plan for Hurst Farm Heritage Trail. The plan focuses on providing opportunities for people from the low-income Hurst Farm Estate to engage with and look after nature on their doorstep. The project aims to establish a new 'Green Estate' social enterprise as a vehicle for delivering heritage activities, volunteering and woodland maintenance. Our approach focused on skills development and supporting the residents to develop their confidence and experience.
Springfield Park, Hackney
Work areas: activity planning, business planning
Springfield Park is a large urban park in Hackney, London. It has a diverse local community which faces a range of challenges relating to poverty and other forms of deprivation.
We worked with the London Borough of Hackney to develop a business plan and activity plan for this £4.1 million Parks for People project. The plans focused on both the use of the landscape and the potential for community use and revenue-generation linked to the historic buildings within the park. As well as undertaking community consultation via events and large-scale survey work, we undertook consultation with over 20 local community groups and potential partner organisations to clearly understand the needs of local audiences and the potential for developing activity within the park.
Cannon Hall Park, Barnsley
Work areas: consultation, activity planning
We worked with Barnsley Council to create an activity plan for a successful Round 2 Parks for People bid to the National Lottery Heritage Fund. Cannon Hall Park is an 18th century landscape for featuring parkland, lakes, waterfalls, follies and vistas and Georgian walled garden.
The project involved extensive consultation with park users, local residents and community partners, working with the existing Friends group and volunteer team to develop proposals for increasing volunteer capacity and extending volunteer involvement on the site. The plan focused on how to welcome new and more diverse audiences from across the Borough and beyond, looking at both natural and cultural heritage.
South Downs National Park
Work areas: activity planning
'In the High Woods' is a NLHF Funded project to investigate the wooded downs of western Sussex via Lidar. The area is rich in hidden archaeological remains. The project will fund an aerial Lidar survey that can look through the tree coverage to see what structures remain. We worked with South Downs National Park Authority to create an activity plan for the project, ensuring that the findings are shared widely and that students, school children, visitors and local people have opportunities to find out about the prehistory of the area.
The Sill, Northumberland National Park
Work areas: interpretation planning
The Sill is a £11.2 million initiative of international importance that created a new National Landscape Discovery Centre in Northumberland. Working with creative design company Bright3D, we developed an interpretation plan for the Sill, a landmark visitor centre for Northumberland National Park and the surrounding area. .
Spinney Hill Park, Leicester
Work areas: audience development, consultation, intepretation
We worked with Leicester City Council on this historic neighbourhood park situated in an area of high deprivation.
Our audience development work involved extensive community consultation, working closely with the Friends of Spinney Hill Park and the Parks Officers to identify users and non-users and to explore community needs. A detailed community audit explored the area around the park at a micro-level, identifying areas and demographic segments which were under-represented in the visitor profile. This provided a clear starting point from which to plan future audience development activity, interpretation proposals and learning strategy. We also helped to develop the Friends Group and ensure they had the necessary skills to have a meaningful role in the project.