(Above) Community spaces such as East Park in Wolverhampton will be one of the many areas to benefit from the funding.
The Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) has donated £1.39m for the restoration of Victoria Gardens in Neath, Wales and millions more are promised for 10 other historic parks around the UK.
Recreational grounds in London, Chester, St Helens, Clydebank, Aberdeenshire, Merthyr Tydfil, Swansea, Belfast and Wolverhampton will also be included in the funding boost.
Haddo Country Park and Haddo House outside Aberdeen have been earmarked to receive almost £1m in funding. The park has 200,000 visitors a year
Dame Jenny Abramsky, Chair of the HLF said: “Today’s news brings some seasonal festive cheer to 11 popular parks. Without it many of them would revert to how they were 20 years ago - rundown, neglected and often unsafe.”
Victoria Gardens is a Grade II registered park and was built in 1897. A number of unique features of the Victorian park still exist, including a bandstand and a bronze statue of local patron Howell Gwyn. The funds will be used to restore the park and create new visitor facilities.
The Heritage Lottery Fund invests £20m a year in public parks projects.
Many of the green spaces date from the 1800s and, thanks to the funding, will continue to serve the recreational needs of local communities.
Swansea’s Cwmdonkin Park has also received £1.93 in funding for restoration. The park is part of the Dylan Thomas trail and was the backdrop to his childhood home. The drinking fountain at Cwmdonkin is referred to in his poem ‘The Hunchback in the Park’.
