Give to parks, nature and green space

Be a force for nature in BCP

Published 16 July 2025, last updated February 2026

Could you give to your local park or green space, or turn a grey area green with a street tree in BCP?

  • Businesses – working with the BCP Greenspaces team can help your business achieve its social impact and employee engagement goals, while demonstrating that yours is a great place to work, and creating lasting benefits for local communities.
  • Employees – you might wish to organise a volunteering session for yourself & your colleagues, helping improve wildlife habitat in one of our nature reserves for instance.
  • Community organisations – maybe you’re thinking about fundraising for an improvement to your local park or play space?
  • Individual donors – maybe you’d like to invest in updating or repairing a community facility or play equipment in a local park?
  • Nature lovers with time to spare – there are lots of ways you can get involved at your local park or nature reserve as a volunteer.

… Get in touch, make a difference

Email the team at greenspaces@bcpcouncil.gov.uk
Or read on for examples of how others have brought their ideas to life …

A team from Wates Group on a Corporate Volunteering Day with BCP’s Countryside team at the Stour Valley Nature Reserve – where they helped plant 400 trees!

“This activity supports our collective environmental & sustainability targets, creates a new/better home for local wildlife, offsets carbon and enhances the existing areas’ natural beauty!” – Katherine Jones, Social Value Manager at Wates

Eco Sustainable Solutions

May 2025 – Parley-based Eco Sustainable Solutions supplied The Parks Foundation with 10 bags of compost and 12 bags of soil to install and landscape a new accessibility ramp at the refurbished & improved community café in Alexandra Park, Parkstone. 

“We love to support projects like this which bring so much good to the local community” – Bryony Hammond, Eco’s Marketing Executive.

House Martin tower & wildlife pond – local partnership in action

At Hoburne estate, Christchurch, opened April 2025. New Milton Sand and Ballast provided aggregates and the timber for the house martin nesting tower. New Milton Men’s Shed built the tower and installed the caller system. Christchurch Harbour Ornithological Group provided local bird expertise. The Parks Foundation funded the majority of the project through a National Lottery Heritage grant, creating the wildlife pond and surrounding meadow with the support of local volunteers. BCP Council created the ‘House Martin Hotel’ interpretation board, helped install the tower and changed local mowing regimes to encourage flowering plants. 

Westbourne Rotary Club

May 2025 – volunteers from Westbourne Rotary, the Westbourne Traders Association, the Coastal BID and Allianz Insurance came together to clear undergrowth and re-paint play equipment at Westbourne Close play park. The project was coordinated by local councillors, and the equipment was pressure-washed by the council ahead of the work.

“This has been a really good collaboration between BCP Parks and Westbourne Rotary working in he community” – Chris Kaye, President.

How will you become a force for nature?

We have put together a ‘menu’ of example projects that businesses, organisations and teams might like to get involved with.

Some support work that’s already happening in BCP’s green spaces, such as our all-important wide-ranging Plan for Play; others we hope will offer inspiration for your own project.

Download the ‘Give to BCP’s Parks, Nature & Green Space’ leaflet – we look forward to hearing from you soon. 

For individual volunteers

There are lots of ways, as an individual, to volunteer in your local park or nature reserve.

Find out more:

For businesses, organisations and teams

Please get in touch to let us know what you’re interested in doing, where, and the resources you can make available (i.e. people power, funding and/or products & materials).

Or simply email us with a few details and we can arrange a chat – greenspaces@bcpcouncil.gov.uk

Greenspace Initiatives

Future Parks Rethinking the future of BCP's parks and green spaces

Give to parks, nature and green space Be a force for nature in BCP

Let it grow Managing our grass areas for people and for nature

The Nature Pledge & Garden for Nature Helping nature at home, school or at work

Greenspace strategies, plans & reports Investing in nature recovery, healthy living & climate change resilience

The Stour Valley partnership Working together on a landscape-scale project

The Parks Foundation

We work with The Parks Foundation, an independent charity, on nature-based community-building projects & events in many BCP parks and green spaces.