Green grants to help create green space in London

Sadiq Khan to award 34 community projects with funding to help transform and create green spaces across the capital. 

Thanks to the Mayor’s Grow Back Greener Fund, a total of £699,000 has been awarded to various community projects.

The Covid-19 pandemic has highlighted just how important access to green space is for both our mental and physical wellbeing. Therefore projects in areas of the city where there is poor access to open space and nature have been prioritised.

The projects will include creating community gardens, mini-parks and allotments.

More than 90% of the projects are in areas of deprivation and over 80% are in areas where less than half of households have good access to open space.

The projects will improve more than six hectares of green space – around the size of 11 football pitches – and create almost half a hectare of brand new green cover. They will also create opportunities for more than 2,000 Londoners to get involved in volunteering outdoors, of which 1,000 will take part in training opportunities, including in horticulture and other green skills.

The fund will also be used to support projects that help Londoners to adapt to the impact of climate change in neighbourhoods that are most vulnerable to risks such as overheating and surface water flooding.

The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, said: ‘I am proud to be Mayor of the world’s first National Park City – our parks and green spaces are an absolutely essential part of the capital. The coronavirus crisis has demonstrated that now more than ever, access to green space is not only vital for Londoners’ mental and physical well-being, but also to reducing inequality across the city.

‘Today’s announcement shows how we are kickstarting a green recovery in London through giving people on the ground the powers and resources to transform their own communities. In continuing to prioritise the green spaces that will help tackle the climate and ecological emergency, we can deliver the huge social and environmental benefits that Londoners deserve.’

Photo Credit – Pixabay