New charity to improve parks in Leeds proposed

Leeds City Council chiefs say the proposed Leeds Parks Trust would give people the opportunity to support parks they love through charitable donations.

A report to tomorrow’s Leeds City Council executive board meeting discusses the proposed formation of the new trust, which would be governed by independent charity Leeds Community Foundation.

It is part of Leeds City Council’s ambition for all 62 community parks in the city to meet Green Flag standards by 2020,

The charity would fund projects to improve parks including new bulb and tree planting and installing new play equipment or sports facilities.

Local businesses, organisations and philanthropic donations have previously supported a string of projects and facilities in Leeds parks including at Tropical World and Golden Acre Park. It is hoped that by establishing a new charity, new donors might be inspired to get involved.

The fund would accept donations from individual donors, via a legacy, philanthropic giving or from local businesses. If given the go-ahead by the executive board, the Leeds Parks Trust is expected to officially launch in April 2017.

Coun Lucinda Yeadon, Leeds City Council’s executive member for environment and sustainability, said: “We are very fortunate to have fantastic parks in Leeds, with many community groups, organisations and businesses already providing a great deal of support to help ensure that our green spaces continue to look great. Creating the Leeds Parks Trust provides a real opportunity to encourage new sources of monetary donations in order to deliver improvements in our parks.”