Bankside Open Spaces Trust is an environmental and volunteering charity with the aim of improving people’s health and wellbeing by making where they live and work greener and more beautiful.

By becoming a supporter you will be helping advance our mission to:
⚫ Transform open spaces
⚫ Enhance health and wellbeing
⚫ Empower and engage local communities
⚫ Champion sustainability

Become a Supporter of Bankside Open Spaces Trust

We care for 16 parks and open spaces across SE1. Yet we do far more than maintain green land.
 
Every week, we work alongside residents, schools, volunteers, trainees and community partners. We grow skills. We build confidence. We create places where people feel welcome and connected. When you become a supporter, you help make all this possible.

We are embedded in our community

Green spaces change lives. However, change takes time, committed people and continuous income. Through our Community Engagement Programme, we listen and respond to local voices.

Our Green Hub turns overlooked corners into thriving spaces for nature and neighbours, our Future Gardeners Level 1 Horticultural Training Programme opens real career pathways.

Today, 76 percent of Future Gardeners graduates move into employment within the industry; over 350 children and young people took part in after-schools sports activities, and the SEND Sports Festival welcomed around 50 young participants for a joyful, inclusive day of movement and connection. 

During the school holidays, we continued to run affordable multi sports camps, allocating 48 fully funded places per camp for children from low income families who might otherwise be unable to attend. 

Each session represented more than participation. It meant access to safe space, positive role models, and consistent opportunities to build confidence and skills. 

Our capital fundraising project for this vital space for outdoor recreation is underway, and you can also make an individual donation for this project. We also reach people who often feel excluded from traditional spaces.

Volunteers are a vial part of our charity

Volunteers remain a vital part of our charity, some volunteering as long as a decade, to enhance open spaces: through volunteering and community gardening sessions, we planted 1019 plants and 2279 bulbs. 

Our trauma informed Multi-ethnic Gardening Club brings cultures together through shared growing. Our neurodivergent led horticultural library offers calm, creativity and belonging. We run Supported Gardening sessions for students with additional learning needs.

Furthermore, Exploring Anxiety in Nature supports people referred through social prescribing. Our nature-inspired art collective creates space for expression and connection. 

Meanwhile, the Paludarium Project engages people in homelessness recovery. Participants build living ecosystems together. As a result, they develop skills, confidence and community, and is another pathway into volunteering with us. 

Alongside this work, Living Space provides vital programmes for children and young people supporting over 700  people in its activities and welcoming over 14,000 individuals to the centre in 2024/25. Together, these programmes create opportunity and joy, with over  young people benefiting from our sessions at Living Space and Marlborough Sports Garden.

Your support creates impact

Unrestricted income allows us to respond where the need is greatest. It helps us plan long term. It strengthens every programme. 

Here is what your monthly gift can do: 
• £3 provides one free hot cooked meal for a child at Living Space 
• £5 buys a pair of secateurs for a Future Gardeners student 
• £10 buys two plants for pollinators in our parks 
• £20 provides teaching assistant support so a child with SEND can take part in sport 
• £50 enables 15 children to join a free coached sports session 

Small monthly gifts create lasting change.

Why become a supporter

Because green space is not just about grass and trees. It is about health and opportunity. 

Because young people deserve safe places to grow.

Because communities thrive when people meet face to face and because local action builds a healthier London. 

When you give monthly, you stand with us. You become part of a community that believes green space belong to everyone.

How to join

You can set up a monthly payment quickly and securely through our online page. If you are a UK taxpayer, you can add Gift Aid. This increases your donation by 25 percent at no extra cost to you.

You may choose a named tier or select your own monthly amount. Every gift matters. 

Together, we transform open spaces, enhance health and wellbeing, empower and engage local communities and together we champion sustainability. 

Become a supporter today and help grow a greener, healthier SE1.