Local residents needed to take part in Your Park Bristol & Bath research to improve the experience of Black, Asian and minority ethnic groups in parks
More than half of Black, Asian and minority ethnic people visit a local park less than once a week, but local charity Your Park Bristol & Bath (YPBB) is aiming to change this.
In partnership with the University of Bath, the charity is undertaking a research project to understand the experiences of Black, Asian and minority ethnic groups using parks and green spaces and what would need to change for them to use them more.
The study, in collaboration with PhD student Zina Abdulla, will focus on using the results to implement practical action. Results will also be shared with the local authorities to encourage them to update their practices and inform future changes to parks.
Between now and the end of October, the charity is hoping to attract around 400 participants and is calling for people across the region to come forward and share their experiences. Questions focus on frequency of park use, who participants visit parks with and what might draw them in, as well as safety and wellbeing concerns.
To participate, go to https://yourpark.org.uk/news/parks-4-all-2
YPBB is also holding a series of in-person focus groups for people from different cultures living in some of the areas of highest deprivation in Bristol and Bath, to find out their experiences of using green spaces and what needs to change for them to reap the benefits. Translators will be on hand for those that require it and there are £30 vouchers as a thank you to participants. The sessions will take place in Lawrence Hill, Easton, Knowle, Whitchurch and Southmead.
Zina Abdulla, from the University of Bath, says: “I’m so excited to be working with Your Park Bristol & Bath on this project as part of my PhD, I feel really passionate about green equity and environmental design in urban areas.
“Green spaces have immense benefits to our physical and mental wellbeing, including lowering our stress and increasing natural chemicals that make us feel happy, and there are design changes that are usually quite simple that we can make to increase accessibility to these spaces.”
Charlee Bennett, chief executive of Your Park Bristol & Bath, says: “There’s a solid base of research that shows spending time in green spaces has significant mental and physical health benefits, but we know that not everyone has equal access to or uses them.
“We want to understand the experiences of ethnic groups that are using them relatively infrequently, and we want to know what the barriers are so that we can really focus on the potential solutions and action them through into our Reimagining Parks campaign.”
The research project follows a report by Groundwork in 2021 which found that people from low-income households or areas, minority ethnic groups and Disabled people are among the groups least likely to use parks and are therefore missing out. Locally, these findings revealed that only 38% of Disabled people in Bristol use parks at least once a week, 46% of Black, Asian and minority ethnic groups and 40% of people living in the 10% most deprived areas. YPBB undertook its own research the same year to understand the experiences of Disabled people and caregivers and is now in the process of actioning the recommendations.
With the cost-of-living crisis, there is an increasing awareness of the importance of green spaces for mental and physical health, and the charity’s message is that parks should be free, easily accessible spaces for everyone to benefit from.
To get involved in the research, click here: https://yourpark.org.uk/news/parks-4-all-2