Finding where to have a great day out in parks is about to get easier. Launching on Friday 22 May, MyParkScotland will provide a new way to discover and support our wonderful parks in Edinburgh and Glasgow
At the click of a mouse or a tap on your phone, you can search all 254 parks by location, postcode or facilities and the events calendar lets you find out what’s on in park near you. If you’re looking for funding for a park project, it’s also Scotland’s only crowdfunding site specifically for parks and greenspace project.
The website is nearly ready to go live but please take a sneak peek here
Download the MyParkScotland update 19 May
I live in Glasgow. I am un unsupported adult on the Autistic Spectrum which means I go most places on my own. I struggle with depression. The only time I go near public parks if I’m feeling really good. Half of them now are full of benches which are turned into shrines for people’s relatives who have passed away. It’s all very depressing. I want to sit on a bench and enjoy the park not to sit on it and feel depressed for the person who has lost relatives. Each time I see them they remind me of my mum feeling very frightened about reaching the end of her life. She would go to the park but avoid the lovely bits like the rose garden in Bellahouston Park.
There used to be a few parks with their benches with wilting flowers tied onto them. Now it’s got a lot worse. They seem to be everywhere and it isn’t only dying cut flowers on them but notes and everything. I walk around Victoria Park now rather than going through it.
We understand how memorial plaques on park benches can make you feel sad. But we like to think of them as an echo of warm and happy memories of days out in the park. These might be treasured memories of family days out, feeding the ducks with grandparents or picnics with special friends.
We also hope that MyParkScotland will provide a way for people to donate in memory (and in life) not just for seats and benches, but for trees, plants and play areas to bring joy and happiness to parks and the people who use them.