East Staffordshire Borough Council’s Open Spaces team has received certificates of recognition from the Royal Horticultural Society’s “In Bloom” organisers for their council managed parks across the borough.
This award has been made to recognise the efforts that have been made during 2020 to maintain the parks to a high standard, allowing the local community to enjoy the facilities and gain the health benefits of outdoor activities during lockdown.
The mental and physical health benefits of spending time outdoors in the fresh air and sunshine are of vital importance to people, and this year have been even more important. As people have been limited in travel, more people have enjoyed the local parks to a greater extent than ever before.
Cllr Ed Barker, Deputy Leader for Leisure, Culture and Tourism, said: “I can’t emphasise enough how important our parks, gardens and floral displays are to the health and wellbeing of our community.
“The Open Spaces team has worked incredibly hard throughout this difficult year to ensure the Council’s parks have been presented to the usual high standard. I am pleased that the Royal Horticultural Society have recognised their efforts.”
The Council is now developing plans to improve facilities on each local park to hugely increase mental stimulation and opportunities for even more physical activities for people visiting the parks and to encourage more people to spend time outdoors.