Working in partnership with local communities was core to Urban Green Newcastle’s approach. The charity knew how passionately people cared for their local green spaces, and introduced the roles of Community Gardener, Volunteer and Engagement Co-ordinator, and Sports and Activities Officer to increase opportunities for engagement.
Many people and organisations gave their time freely to help Urban Green Newcastle over its lifespan. The Trustees and staff of the charity continually recognised this, and thank all those who played a part in caring for the city’s green spaces.
Urban Green Connect
Integral to the charity’s governance was an advisory panel, set up to advise on how best to reach people, be inclusive, and make a difference collaboratively. Made up of enthusiastic and committed people from across the city, and chaired by Trustees, this group challenged, commented and influenced Urban Green Newcastle in many aspects of its work. Its recommendations were fed directly into the Board of Trustees and resulted in a number of changes to the charity’s policies and projects.
Volunteering
Urban Green Newcastle could not have functioned without the help and support of a huge number of volunteers who gifted their time with the charity. Some parks also benefitted from active Friends of Groups – separate and independent organisations that worked closely with the charity. The Friends of Groups continue to do a huge amount to support their local parks, from direct management to fundraising and research.
Building and expanding the opportunities for volunteering was an early ambition for Urban Green Newcastle, and despite the setbacks during the COVID 19 pandemic, the charity put in place an accessible and diverse volunteering offer across all 33 parks, supported by a dedicated officer. A thorough review of policies and procedures resulted in a dedicated Volunteer Handbook, and in 2022 Urban Green Newcastle fully systemised the volunteering offer with the introduction of Better Impact – aligning with similar organisations locally and making it easier for people to see what volunteering opportunities were available.
By the time of the charity’s closure, the volunteering opportunities included the following (with plans to extend even further):
- Ranger-led activities – taking part in different parks at different times, to encourage multiple opportunities for involvement in parks maintenance.
- Roving rangers – offering more dedicated training for individuals to work alongside Rangers and Community Gardeners, to gain skills and increase opportunities for employment in the sector.
- Volunteer gardeners – volunteers with a keen interest in gardening who could undertake a range of horticulture tasks – from planting up flower beds to propagating new plants.
- Café assistant volunteers – for those who liked to gift their time at Urban Green Newcastle’s flagship community cafe in Exhibition Park.
- Pets’ Corner volunteers – a popular choice for individuals and trainees looking to increase their skills in animal care and handling.
- Events volunteers – supporting at festivals, events and activities.
- Corporate volunteering – Urban Green Newcastle developed a close partnership with The Conservation Volunteers to help build a growing corporate volunteering programme so local and national businesses/organisations could gift staff time to support the improvement of Newcastle’s parks and allotments.
- Self-led volunteering – for those who wanted more flexibility, Urban Green Newcastle offered options to individuals and groups to garden, maintain, clean, and support the parks in their own time – either through initiatives such as Urban Green Clean, or through their own groups.
During 2024, close to 7,000 volunteer hours were recorded – an increase of 500 hours on the previous year. Urban Green Newcastle also recruited an additional 158 corporate volunteers in 2024, who supported the charity with an additional 1,958 hours between them.
Skills development
Urban Green Newcastle worked closely with a wide range of organisations to offer opportunities for skills development and training.
The Skill Mill
The Skill Mill is a social enterprise offering work experience and training opportunities to young people aged 16-18 and supporting them into employment.
An innovative two-year programme with Urban Green Newcastle ran from 2020-22, and saw 66 young adults benefit from dedicated training in water and land-based management. The partnership created three full-time contract posts at Urban Green Newcastle.
Its success contributed to The Skill Mill receiving two Queen’s Awards for Enterprise, which were presented to the organisation by HRH Princess Anne at a prestigious event hosted in Exhibition Park.
Kickstart
In 2020, Urban Green Newcastle was successful in applying to become a Kickstart employer, offering four placements across the organisation. Two posts were created in the ranger team and two within Pets’ Corner. All of the young people employed benefitted hugely from their experiences, and three of the four went on to become employed in the countryside or animal care sectors.
Probation Service North East
In 2023, the charity began a new collaborative partnership with Probation Service North East that saw offenders on Community Payback work with Urban Green Newcastle to carry out general maintenance tasks across Leazes Park, Exhibition Park and Walker Park. The offenders spent a few days each week carrying out a range of different tasks, gaining skills to help them find employment, while providing invaluable support to the Ranger and Community Gardener team.
Newcastle United Foundation
Urban Green Newcastle’s partnership with Newcastle United Foundation provided local young people with valuable work experience and training in the city’s parks and allotments.
Part of The King’s Trust Team programme – which is delivered by Newcastle United Foundation – young people aged 16-25 who are not in full-time employment, education or training were able to take part in a two-week work experience placement with Urban Green Newcastle as part of the 12-week employability scheme.
Natural History Skills Training and Citizen Science
Through initiatives such as Beelines North East, Gosforth’s Wild Web and Newcastle’s Nature Networks, a number of natural history skills programmes were delivered in the parks by partners such as the Natural History Society of Northumbria. These programmes encouraged people to learn about the wildlife on their doorsteps, and helped develop new skills.
Schools, colleges and universities
Urban Green Newcastle developed close links with local educational institutions, which benefitted both students and the charity. Many schools took part in the Beelines North East initiative, joint funding bids resulted in a number of research projects with Northumbria University, and local colleges used the parks and Pets’ Corner to help with student training.
Keeping people informed
As a new approach to the management of parks and allotments, there was a lot of interest in Urban Green Newcastle and its work – both nationally and locally. From the outset the charity established clear and accessible communication channels that allowed everyone – from park users and volunteers to partnership organisations and stakeholders – to find out what was happening in their local park, get involved, or feed back any comments or concerns.
The charity’s website and strong social media presence provided multiple ways for people to engage with the charity and learn about all the great work it was doing. These channels became an important resource in sharing time sensitive updates, such as weather warnings and guidance during the COVID 19 pandemic.
A monthly newsletter was produced for both park users and stakeholders, and park notice boards provided more local information. A dedicated email address – monitored daily – allowed questions, feedback and concerns to be addressed.
Charity staff were also very visible and active, building relationships with partners, attending stakeholder group meetings, and hosting liaison events. Following feedback from the Youth Council, the staff team ensured greater visibility when working in parks to help people feel safer.
In producing Management Plans for parks, Urban Green Newcastle undertook extensive consultation both online and through pop-ups in the parks. The charity also established key stakeholder engagement groups and worked closely with groups such as EVRY, the Youth Council, and the Elder’s Council to gather feedback on specific aspects of parks management (e.g. park safety).
Through the charity’s close relationships with universities and colleges, a number of student projects undertook surveys and research on behalf of Urban Green Newcastle to gather public feedback on initiatives such as Let it Grow (No Mow May), and the use of parks by women and girls.
