If your local park or greenspace does not have a Friends group, you can set one up.
It’s great when you and a few friends or neighbours decide to become a Friends group.
We encourage Friends of Parks groups to become formalised and constituted. If you do, it means you can apply for funding from us and other organisations.
See information and ideas on setting up and running a Friends group:
- Haringey Friends of Parks Forum – How to start
- Parks Community – Starting a Friends Group
- Go Parks London – Join or start a Friends Park group
There are things you need to do to become a formal Friends group.
Set up a committee
The committee (or officers/core group) helps to run the group. There are roles like chair, secretary and treasurer that need to be decided. It’s usually the chair and secretary who co-ordinate the group and act as the public voice. However, it’s important to allow others to get involved using their own skills and interests. For example, the group could create:
- working groups to focus on different aspects of the park or greenspace
- informal roles like:
- youth officer
- tree officer
- social media officer
Choose a constitution
The constitution sets out exactly:
- how your group is managed
- your aims and objectives
- how meetings are run
Annual General Meetings (AGM)
Groups need to hold AGMs each year. The first AGM will adopt the constitution and elect committee members.
AGMs after that will:
- re-elect committee members
- present an annual report and accounts to group members
Set up a bank account
Once your group is formally set up, it should have a bank account. This is so membership subscriptions and other funds can be properly managed.
The account should:
- be in the name of the group
- have at least 2 signatories (usually committee members)
Insurance and health and safety
Each time there’s a public event, public liability insurance must be in place to cover accidents on a public site.
Public events include things like:
- a community clear-up
- tree planting
- fun days
TCV offer public liability insurance to community groups.
Risk assessments are also required for each activity.
A risk assessment:
- looks at possible risks of harm to people doing the activity
- puts in place ways to reduce those risks
- looks at how help can be carried out if needed
Diversity and inclusion
Make sure diversity and inclusion is one of your top priorities. This helps your group reflect the local community.