Welcome

The Midlands Parks Forum is a charitable organisation acting as an umbrella organisation for our subscribers, which include green space professionals from a wide range of sectors including local authorities, corporate heritage and environmental organisations, and Nation Federation of Parks and Green Space local fora from the East and West Midlands.  We work closely with national agencies such as Natural England, APSE and Historic England.  We aim to become the voice of parks in the Midlands.

We are passionate about improving our environment and finding ways to optimise community health and well being.  We’re also committed to exploring the role that open spaces can play in tackling climate change.

We organise conferences, workshops and educational forums, utilising speakers who focus on all aspects of green space management and development. Additionally, we support case studies and facilitate visits to high quality, award winning green spaces to learn about and share good practice.

Explore this site and you’ll find information on our work and meet our trustees on our About us page.

For information on how to subscribe to our organisation, or to learn about sponsorship opportunities, see our Join us page.

We will provide valuable resources library with best-practice guides, case studies and  research on Parks in UK and abroad. 

Green Heritage Future Leaders Programme

Midlands Parks Forum has been awarded a grant of £208,000 for a Green Heritage Future Leaders Programme by The National Lottery Heritage Fund

Today, Midlands Parks Forum is announcing a £208,000 grant from The National Lottery Heritage Fund to design and develop a training programme for green space professionals.  The brand-new training programme for a new generation of green heritage managers will equip environmental professionals with the skills to manage accessible green space in the Midlands region, this will protect green heritage and build best practice in the sector to create a sustainable future.

There is a severe national skills shortage in green space management, whilst at the same time, facing the urgency of tackling the climate crisis.  There are a vast number of skills and competencies required as a green space manager, and this leadership programme will help build future generations of green space managers to manage public parks, gardens, nature reserves and heritage green spaces.

Made possible thanks to National Lottery players, this project will enable us to work with expert trainers to deliver high quality training covering the extensive range of topics required for current green space management.  A key theme of the programme will be to develop a cohort of trainees who will develop and share their skills throughout the programme, offering mentoring and developing their leadership and management skills, throughout the training period.

In the long-term, the project will build the skills for future green space management, resulting in better managed parks and green space for local communities throughout the region.

Subscription to Midlands Parks Forum is available to green space professionals through their employer. Each Local Authority, Parks Trust, or environmental organisation  can register as a subscriber to receive our services.    Over 400 individuals benefit annually from learning visits, webinars, CPD sessions, and formal training.  As well as the new Leaders Programme funded by The National Lottery Heritage Fund, we will continue our work engaging connecting and supporting subscribers from the Midlands and beyond.  We are one of only three organisations in the UK offering this type of support, and the new training is being offered to our subscribers.  There will be further press releases in early 2026.

James Dymond Chair of Midlands Parks Forum and Director at Bradgate Park, Leics said: “We are thrilled to have received this support from The National Lottery Heritage Fund. Thanks to National Lottery players the heritage of public parks, gardens and nature reserves will improve through a new era of training focused on the environment and enrichment for communities.

About Midlands Parks Forum

Midlands Parks Forum is committed to supporting best practice in parks and green space.  We support, connect and engage with a wide range of green space practitioners, through collaborations, partnerships and engagement with industry leaders to support our members who manage parks, gardens, nature reserves and heritage green spaces across the Midlands Region and beyond.

As an umbrella organisation, our organisation aims to be the voice of Parks in the Midlands and are committed to providing high quality learning opportunities to our subscribers. Our board of trustees are all highly skilled in green space management and with over 40 years as a voluntary organisation and as we enter our 7^th year as a charity, we have expanded our reach across the breadth of the Midlands, and beyond, investing our support to increase the skills of future generations of green space managers.

About The National Lottery Heritage Fund 

Our vision is for heritage to be valued, cared for and sustained for everyone, now and in the future. That’s why as the largest funder for the UK’s heritage we are dedicated to supporting projects that connect people and communities to heritage, as set out in our strategic plan, Heritage 2033. Heritage can be anything from the past that people value and want to pass on to future generations. We believe in the power of heritage to ignite the imagination, offer joy and inspiration, and to build pride in place and connection to the past.

Over the next 10 years, we aim to invest £3.6billion raised for good causes by National Lottery players to make a decisive difference for people, places and communities.

heritagefund.org.uk

Follow @HeritageFundUK on Twitter/X, Facebook and Instagram and use #NationalLottery #HeritageFund

Further information

For further information, images and interviews please contact Alison Bate, Partnership Manager at Midlands Parks Forum on 07384 312840.