Groundwork believes that physical improvements and enhancement are critical to improving people’s quality of life and a fundamental element of long term regeneration. Significant elements of the programmes identified under the People theme are physical works.
Our Places work includes our physical environmental work with communities, where the focus is improving or restoring to public use areas of neglected or derelict land. Projects range in scale from small pocket parks in individual communities to renovating much larger expanses of land. We also run projects focused on the built environment, improving housing, public amenities and recreational facilities as part of our wider regeneration work.
‘Places’ encompasses our work developing community routes for walking and cycling, which offer benefits in community health and cohesion as well as providing alternative, sustainable means of transport. These projects, which create opportunities for tourism and enhance local economies, have been one of the elements of Groundwork’s increasing involvement in the wider green tourism agenda in Wales.
Other projects include creating nature reserves, eco parks and outdoor activity centres and working with partners to promote and encourage responsible use of woodlands and the countryside for leisure and physical activity.