Heart & Soul 23

Building on initial parks research begun in 2022, Heart & Soul Community Action Team and Waymarking C.I.C., in partnership with the lead for Parks South Manchester City Council and MCRactive, co-designed and co-delivered a series of ten community-led research workshops to explore local residents’ perspectives on the two largest park’s Painswick Park and Kirkup Gardens in Woodhouse Park.

 

Each workshop was held in one of the parks, and was on one of three themes; nature & environment; connectedness (parks as social spaces) and design. Following analysis of the research by Waymarking, four workshops were held for local residents to explore the research findings and come up with ideas building on the findings for making the park a healthier and more social place.

 

In total 300 adults and children engaged in the workshops, which produced a set of interesting and valuable findings.

 

In 2023, the team produced a three-year action plan to further enhance and develop their Heart & Soul Wellbeing Trail, aiming to design and install trail markers, information panels, online mapping, support groups to take ‘ownership’ of different parts of the trail’ and engage many more local residents in using the trail through a programme of activities.

 

Later in the year, Heart & Soul Community Research Team, became the Community Action Team, and began working on growing their volunteer membership, and considering operating as an independent community group.