Westminster residents celebrate new outdoor space

Published by Neil Young for Peabody in Housing and also in Communities, Environment

On Sunday 5 September residents celebrated an exciting new outdoor space at the official opening of improvements to Peabody’s historic North Row Buildings estate in Westminster. 

Key improvements included: 

• providing children and young people with a safe and enjoyable space to play
• enhancing biodiversity by introducing a vibrant and colourful mixture of plants
• creating a space that will encourage community activities.

The improvement works began in April 2010 and were completed, just 12 weeks later, in June 2010.

Peabody Project Manager Sue Forsyth said:

“This space has been significantly improved from what was a dark and empty yard into a colourful, bright garden where people can play, harvest some herbs, try out a bit of gardening if they wish and enjoy themselves. It’s been a real privilege to work on a project that will make such a difference to people’s lives.”

Dating from 1888, North Row Buildings is one of three Peabody estates whose tired open spaces have been given a facelift through the Green Spaces for People portfolio supported by the Big Lottery Fund. The other two estates are Barnwell House estate in Southwark and Clyde Road estate in Haringey.

Green Spaces for People is an exciting partnership between Places for People, the Riverside Group and Peabody. It has received £15.6 million from the Big Lottery Fund’s Changing Spaces programme and will regenerate over 70 open spaces across England, providing play, sports and youth facilities, community and sensory gardens, community parks and wildlife habitats. Individual projects will range in value from approximately £22,000 to £1 million.

In coming years Peabody plans to improve the open spaces on a number of its estates across London, enhancing biodiversity, security and recreational value.

For more information, contact Peabody Media Relations Officer Neil Young on 0207 021 4210 or neil.young@peabody.org.uk.

Changing Spaces

The Big Lottery Fund’s Changing Spaces programme was launched in November 2005 to help communities enjoy and improve their local environments. The programme is funding a range of activities from local food schemes and farmers markets, to education projects teaching people about the environment. Places for People Homes Ltd was awarded a £15,669,990 Changing Spaces grant in August 2007.

Green Spaces for People

The Green Spaces for People project aims to provide a range of quality accessible green spaces such as community gardens, multi-use games areas and children's play areas to social housing communities throughout England. The portfolio consists of 75 projects.       

The Big Lottery Fund

The Big Lottery Fund, the largest of the National Lottery good cause distributors, has been rolling out grants to health, education, environment and charitable causes across the UK since its inception in June 2004. It was established by Parliament on 1 December 2006.

Big Lottery Fund Press Office: 020 7211 1888          
Out of hours: 07867 500 572
Public Enquiries Line: 08454 102030               
Textphone:  08456 021 659

Full details of the work of the Big Lottery Fund, its programmes and awards are available on the website: www.biglotteryfund.org.uk