We’re delighted that the Park has been granted Green Flag status for 2021 – the fourteenth straight year that the accolade has been achieved.
The Green Flag scheme, which celebrates its own Silver Jubilee this year, is run by Keep Britain Tidy and is the international quality mark for parks and green spaces. It recognises the spaces that achieve the highest possible environmental standards and provide an excellent experience for visitors.
Alexandra Park has joined parks in countries such as New Zealand, Mexico and Finland in achieving Green Flag status this year. The Park has also achieved the much coveted Green Heritage Site Accreditation, supported by Historic England, which recognises high standards in the management of sites with local or national historic importance.
The Green Flag and Heritage awards follow recent success for the Park in the 2021 London in Bloom Awards, where Alexandra Park collected three golds in the Large Park, Conservation and Heritage categories. Earlier in 2021 Park volunteers were recognised with a special Hero Award from the Heritage Alliance for the work they did to combat litter during the height of the pandemic.
Mark Evison, park manager at Alexandra Park and Palace Charitable Trust said: “We’re delighted the Park has been retained its Green Flag status, and Green Heritage Accreditation. The Park is here for everyone to enjoy and we want to ensure it is a special place for people to visit. Increasing amounts of research indicates how vital green space is for your mental and physical well-being, and given the last 18 months in particular, the importance of spaces like our Park has never been more clear. Recognition like the Green Flag status and gold awards from London in Bloom are testament to the standards we’re providing for people.
“It goes without saying that looking after 196 acres, 365 days a year, with millions of visitors and the diversity of activity taking place here, takes a lot of hard work. Our park team from contractors John O’Conner are out in the park every day and we receive massive support from volunteers. The Friends of Alexandra Park deserve particular thanks for all that they do. We also have our new gardening volunteers and it’s important to remember the micro-volunteering every visitor can do. If you are visiting the Park, enjoying yourself and taking your litter home with you, then you are playing a big part in helping us.
“We’re looking forward to another busy few months ahead, and we hope everyone continues to enjoy using and benefitting from the park, as much as we all love looking after it.”
In celebration of this year’s Green Flag Award announcement, Alexandra Palace will be joining buildings and monuments around the UK in being lit green for #GoGreenForParks to show appreciation for the spaces that mean so much to people.
Research carried out by YouGov for Keep Britain Tidy over the summer shows just how important parks are to the British public. It reveals that having access to a quality park or green space helped improve people’s mental health with almost six in ten (59%) saying they felt less stressed when using the park and 55% saying they felt more positive in general. The survey also showed that more than half of people (53%) visit a park or green space at least once a week and more than nine in ten (93%) think that parks and green spaces are important to their local community, while 94% of people recognise parks as places that have a positive impact on mental and physical health.
Commenting on the news that Alexandra Park has achieved the Green Flag Award standard, Green Flag Award Scheme Manager Paul Todd said: “I would like to congratulate everyone involved in making Alexandra Park worthy of a Green Flag Award. To meet the requirements demanded by the scheme is testament to the hard work of the staff and volunteers who do so much to ensure that Alexandra Park has high standards of horticulture, safety and environmental management and is a place that supports people to live healthy lives.”
