National Park City Foundation
London National Park City is a movement to improve life in London, working to make the city greener, healthier and wilder.
London became the world’s first National Park City in July 2019. A place, a vision and a movement, the London National Park City has been supported by thousands of Londoners, the majority of the city’s 2,000 local politicians and the Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan. Read more at London National Park City.
The Mayor has stated that, as a National Park City, London will be:
- A city which is greener in the long-term than it is today and where people and nature are better connected;
- A city which protects the core network of parks and green spaces and where buildings and public spaces aren’t defined only by stone, brick, concrete, glass and steel;
- A city that is rich with wildlife where every child benefits from exploring, playing and learning outdoors;
- A city where all can enjoy high-quality green spaces, clean air, clean waterways and where more people choose to walk and cycle.
- The National Park City Foundation has been established to work with Londoners to help make the London National Park City, and other National Park Cities, a success.
The National Park City Foundation supports the vision of the Great West Hedge as a great example of action to make London wilder, greener and healthier and an inspiring way to mark London becoming the world’s first National Park City. The hedge will improve air quality for the community including schools, make the area greener and support wildlife. It will be a living demonstration of how greening our city can improve life in London.
Abundance London
Abundance London is a voluntary organisation that runs environmental and educational community projects in Chiswick. Founded in 2010 Abundance harvests surplus fruit, plants orchards, hedgerows and trees, tries to reconnect people with nature and protect it in an urban setting, creates beautiful spaces, mainly through planting but also through art.
Chiswick Oasis
The Chiswick Oasis is a crowdfunded project set up to transform one of the most polluted schools in London into one of the greenest. Awarded £32k by the Mayor of London as “one of London’s best civic initiatives of 2018”, the project includes several clean air initiatives like the installation of a green wall along the school’s playground, air purifiers inside each classroom, and the re-painting of the interior walls using a special air-cleaning product, among the other things. Sponsored by several large companies (Swarovski, Porsche, Miwhip) and in partnership with Arup and Enjoy Work, the Chiswick Oasis has been endorsed by celebrities like Emma Thompson, David Dimbleby, Jeremy Paxman, Claudia Winkleman, Simon Schama, Ciaran Hinds and Francesco da Mosto and it will aim to create a model for all the other schools to follow.
Other Supporters
The Great West Hedge extends across two boroughs and is supported by many local residents, groups, organisations representing residents, schools, parks, open spaces along the length of the road. It has also obtained support from a number of green infrastructure and air quality organisations.