Empowering Friends of Parks: Bringing Local Green Spaces to Life with Digital Trails
Championing the Grassroots Movement With over 7,000 independent local groups, 60,000 core activists, and an estimated 7 million hours of volunteering each year, the Friends Groups movement is the lifeblood of our public green spaces. At Love Exploring, we want to empower this grassroots army with the digital tools they need to thrive, helping them to celebrate their parks and boost community involvement.
A Free Digital Tool to Attract Diverse Audiences Crucially, Love Exploring is a completely free-to-download app for citizens, meaning there is no paywall or barrier to participation for local families. By transforming parks into interactive adventures featuring AR dinosaurs, space walks, and mini-beasts, Friends Groups can easily add a new digital dimension to their spaces . Research by UCL highlights that attracting younger people and diverse communities is a top priority for Friends Groups. Our platform directly addresses this. AR trails are an irresistible draw for young people, and as the research confirms, "when children do things, the parents turn up". This creates a powerful knock-on effect, organically increasing the diversity of site visitors.
Supporting Parks Under Financial Pressure We know that local parks are under immense financial pressure. Love Exploring operates without the need for expensive physical infrastructure; there are no panels to install and no hardware to vandalise . Furthermore, the platform provides Friends Groups with hard, ward-level data on sign-ups, game plays, and engagement. This is precisely the kind of evidence groups need to demonstrate their park's value to councils and secure vital funding.
We are already working with local volunteers to great success; for instance, our recent engagement with Dudley Council helped activate Silver Jubilee Park alongside their local Friends Group. By aligning with national initiatives like Love Parks Week and Great Big Green Week, we can help local groups raise their profile nationally.
Let's bring your park to life. If you are part of a Friends Group or the National Federation of Parks and Green Spaces, contact us today([email protected]) to discuss co-branded campaigns and pilot programmes for your local area.
