Green spaces 'make me proud to live in Sheffield' park worker says as city crowned top in Yorkshire with award
The city has received more Green Flag Awards than any other in the region
Sheffield has been recognised as one of the best spots for green spaces in Yorkshire, as it receives more Green Flag awards than any other city.
Shire Brook Valley Nature Reserve became the city’s 19th Green Flag Award location, helping take Sheffield to the top of the tables across all of Yorkshire.
The international award celebrates green spaces across the globe, reviewing parks and natural land against a number of criteria including wildlife preservations and how they meet the needs of their communities.
Aime Rowland, a project officer for the council’s parks team, said: “In the last couple of years we've had a lot of funding through DEFRA (Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs) for the species survival project, which included lots of habitat improvements across the site and lots of conservation improvements.
“[There was] a big focus on nature, but also there's a big element of engagement - lots of volunteering took place and volunteers were involved in all sorts of conservation tasks.
“Then there were quite a few improvements around accessibility to the path network so people can get out and enjoy the green space and also putting a new interpretation trail based around species that you would see on site.
“That's been taking place over the last couple of years and just came to an end in March this year, so it was nice to mark the end of that project with the green flag award.”
The Species Survival Fund was a £25 million programme designed to help species survive environmental threats and promote biodiversity within natural habitats.
Aime says the Green Flag Award helps recognise the ongoing work across Sheffield, adding that she loves discovering new “hidden gems” through her job before getting to enjoy them with her children.
“It makes me feel really proud to live in Sheffield because it is so green and I just think that’s so important for everyone's mental health [and] their physical health as well,” she continued.
“There's a lot to offer on these sites and in these quite difficult times where there’s not that much money around it's still amazing that these sites are still being improved through accessing various different pots of funding.
“So yeah, it makes me proud.”