Awards

Thanks to the hard work of our members plus the support of SCC, we're continuing to gain (and retain) some significant awards.

Latest of these is Wilder Southampton, a partnership project between SCC and Hampshire & Isle of Wight Wildlife Trust, to recognise the work by both groups and individuals to proect and encourage wildlife in their local area.  Wilder Southampton is supported by the National Lottery Heritage fund, as part of the nationwide Nextdoor Nature project. Denise Long takes up the story for 2025:

"On Thursday 23rd October, Garth and I attended the Hants and IOW Wildlife Trust’s annual conference. We’d been notified some time ago that FoPR were finalists in their ‘Collective Action for Nature’ award. This is one of a number of awards that are given to groups that are working to conserve and restore nature. Given the prestigious projects that were represented, including many on a landscape scale, we were thrilled to be awarded a ‘Highly Commended’ certificate. This is in recognition of all the hard work put in by the group, to improve the park for wildlife. Many thanks to everyone concerned.

"The Conference itself consisted of a morning and afternoon panel discussion with 4 people represented on each. The participants were from various parts of the conservation community including farmers and private land owners. The main focus was around raising the profile of the vital need for protecting the natural world, and countering recent condemnatory comments about Nature being seen as a barrier to development. Both sessions were extremely inspiring .... and I think we all came away believing that we can make a difference."

Bees Needs Community Champion Award Bees, and other pollinating insects, are an essential part of our environment and play a crucial role in food production.  But to thrive they need access to a variety of nectar-rich flowers and shrubs from spring onwards, and protection from pesticides. With this in mind, certain parts of the Rec are allowed to grow wild. In 2024 Friends of Portswood Rec have again been one of a small number of community organisations recognised by DEFRA as Bees Needs Champions. This is our third award, and we're justly proud of it!

Field in Trust  Although it was developed as a park in the 1930's, since 2012 Portswood Recreation Ground (for that's our full title) has been a Field in Trust.  That means that there's a legal agreement that the landowner, Southampton City Council (SCC), will retain it as a green space in perpetuity.

Green Flag award  Not just a local award, Green Flag is the benchmark standard for publicly accessible parks and green spaces in the United Kingdom and around the world.  Parks are assessed on a range of criteria including signage, accessibility, safety, facilities, community involvement, biodiversity and much more besides. A total of eight parks in Southampton met Green Flag standard in 2023, well above many equivalent local authorities. You can usually see the flag flying from the flagpole by the Grosvenor Road entrance.