Love Parks Week goes digital this year – here’s how you can get involved!

Our wonderful parks and green spaces across Mid and East Antrim have been more important to our health and wellbeing this year than ever before, with so many people using them for their daily exercise during the Coronavirus lockdown.

Unfortunately, the ongoing pandemic has meant Council has not been able to organise our usual annual Love Parks Week series of events, but you can still get involved in celebrating the best of our outdoor spaces by tuning into our social channels from Monday 20 to Friday 24 July!

The amazing Mid & East Antrim Borough Council Parks & Open Spaces Team have lined up a series of videos designed to help you get outside and love your own local green space, and we’d love you to share any pictures or videos with us on our Facebook, Instagram and Twitter pages with the tags #loveparksweek #OurMEA and #RediscoverMEA

The programme for our social media channels next week is:

• Monday - Story Time
• Join Samantha for a “Dream a Little Dream” interactive storytelling session.

• Tuesday - Incredible Edibles

There is an abundance of free food in our parks and open spaces; Dermot Hughes from Forage Ireland shares some foraging tips.

• Wednesday - Game, set, match!
• Playboard NI show how easy it is to make your own tennis racket – now the ball's in your court!

• Thursday - Peace in the Park
• A guided tutorial on breathing and relaxation techniques with expert Nicola Fulcher. Best listened to in a quiet corner of your favourite green space.

• Friday- Big Butterfly Hunt
• Get outdoors and see what beautiful butterflies are fluttering by, record and submit your findings to Butterfly Conservation.

Love Parks Week is an annual campaign run by the charity, Keep Britain Tidy, and Council have supported this every year at our local parks.

This year, Keep Britain Tidy will instead be encouraging members of the public to help them reduce anti-social behaviour and littering in the green and open spaces throughout the UK, by launching a Code of Conduct for park visitors and a pledge for local businesses.

More information on how you can support the campaign, which launches on July24, can be found at www.keepbritaintidy.org