Saturday 23 December 2023 marks the 150th birthday of Leazes Park – also known as the ‘People’s Park’ – and to celebrate this special occasion, we want to give the park a present.
In the 1850s, a group of working men from the factories of Newcastle upon Tyne petitioned the city council for access to some open space so they, along with the people of the Newcastle, could enjoy fresh air, exercise, and recreation away from the heavy industry of the city centre. That petition led to the opening of Newcastle’s first public park in 1873, Leazes Park.
Saturday 23 December 2023 marks the 150th birthday of Leazes Park – also known as the ‘People’s Park’ – and to celebrate this special occasion, we want to give the park a present
Generously kickstarted by Northern Lights Newcastle with a £1k donation from themselves, they are matching every pound donated by the public thereafter, up to our fundraising target of £20k. With your help, we’re hoping to raise enough money to repair play equipment in Leazes Park. We also want to involve more volunteers in helping us care for this historic green space, giving the park a new lease of life in its 150th year.
Here at Urban Green Newcastle, we work hard to ensure Newcastle’s green spaces are safe, friendly and welcoming places for everyone to enjoy. That includes making sure play areas are safe for children and families. We look after 33 parks and have 64 play areas currently under our care which can be a challenging task when parks across the city sadly become targets of anti-social behaviour. Anti-social behaviour and arson have cost, this year alone, upwards of £86,000 in the city’s parks!
Play areas themselves are also very costly to maintain. A single toddler swing seat (NOT including chains, fixtures and fittings, frame, safety checks OR instalment!) can cost around £300 to replace. Or a single piece of climbing equipment comes in with a cost of approximately £40,000 to safely remove, dispose of and replace.
When we inherited Leazes Park, it already had some of the oldest play equipment in the city. Unfortunately, some of this has now come to the end of its life and is no longer safe for people to use, which is why we’re working alongside Northern Lights Newcastle and you, the people of the city, to give the park a birthday present and restore some of its much-loved play kit.
As a small, non-profit organisation, we rely on the support of our friendly sponsors, donors and local communities, who help fundraise to improve the city’s green spaces for the benefit of all communities across the city. So, whether you’re a daily dog-walker, park runner, commuter, park bench studier or a one-off picnic-er, there are loads of great ways you can get involved and be a part of the local Leazes Park community.
Whatever contribution you’re able to give, every little helps when it comes to keeping our green spaces beautiful.
If you want to get more hands on, why not to sign-up to one of our volunteering programs, ranging from assisting one of our rangers, to self-led litter picking in the park itself. Just get in touch at: volunteer@urbangreennewcastle.org Even the small gesture of taking your litter home with you makes a HUGE difference!
Or if you’d like to donate to the fundraiser, you can do so via the link below:
https://www.justgiving.com/campaign/leazes150
Thank you for supporting Leazes Park in its 150th year!
(Buy tickets to the Northern Lights Newcastle light trail and top-up your ticket with a donation!)