Rugby's newest park making locals healthier and happier - The Rugby Observer

Rugby's newest park making locals healthier and happier

Rugby Editorial 23rd Feb, 2017   0

A PARK which was transformed from an overgrown allotment site has helped residents feel healthier, happier and more active, according to a new report.

Since the award-winning Centenary Park opened in Newbold-on-Avon last March, three times as many people from the area visit local parks daily than before, says national charity Fields in Trust.

Over 60 per cent of park visitors reported feeling happier and better about themselves – and half said they had significantly more access to nature as a result.

A Fields in Trust spokesman said: “This data reinforces the view that local green space is vitally important in meeting the government’s aim of creating a more active nation; an ambition which requires all kinds of formal and informal recreational space to be accessible.”




Fields in Trust Chief Executive Helen Griffiths added: “We can see how this new park has revitalised the local community, a contribution that is replicated through the thousands of parks playing fields and playgrounds across the UK.

“It is important local authorities are supported to ensure green spaces are protected from development and maintained for public recreation for future generations.”


Centenary Park has an outdoor gym, a play area, a games area, a wildlife meadow, a butterfly bank and a sensory garden.

It is protected in perpetuity with Fields in Trust as part of the Centenary Fields initiative, commemorating those that served and fell in the First World War.

It was awarded prestigious Green Flag status just five months after opening, and in December was crowned the most improved Fields in Trust site in the UK.

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