The FPA Support Journey
From the perspective of Claire Graves, FPA Advisory Services Manager
One of the pillars of the Future Parks Accelerator programme is the support we provide to the places in the Cohort – alongside grant funding, a peer network, shared endeavour, testing and learning together.
We've come a LONG way in the two years since the official launch of the programme. I would never presume to know what our places need, and always seek to listen and understand. I've learned a lot about what is actually helpful in support of our FPA cohort, compared with what I thought could be useful when we set out on our journey. A lot has happened in that time which has forced us to adapt what we do, and how we do it.
Now, all the places we’re working with have completed their co-design phase and are transitioning ready for implementation. Early on, we undertook what we called ‘Parks Challenges’, a diagnostic approach where teams of National Trust professionals were hosted in each place to take a fresh look at their parks and green space estate, and the challenges and opportunities they each face. Fortuitously well-timed pre-pandemic, this shared exercise was critical for me in getting to know the places and teams and develop some understanding of the range of expertise which could add most value.
Armed with this intel, and from previous experience of working with Sheffield and then Newcastle, we had a good idea which disciplines would definitely be in demand: volunteering, participation and community engagement, income generation, fundraising, asset management. We also knew that the 'financial sustainability' objective at the heart of FPA was and continues to be a tough nut to crack. So, over the last year we've added financial expertise to our team of consultants. How to talk about a vision for parks and green spaces in a way which is meaningful to your colleagues, politicians and communities is also becoming increasingly important; so we're bringing communications into the mix of support.
It’s clear to me that one of the most useful things FPA has done is buy places head space to think about these really big, difficult and ambitious transformations. This has also played out in how they've engaged with the FPA's team of consultants. When it works well, it's based on open and trusting relationships, which enable mutual exploration of the brief, critical friendship, and healthy challenge. This takes time to establish. Our consultants also keep in close contact with each other, drawing on each other's skills and experience, joining dots between places and sharing learning.
“We're less about 'what could be better than that', and more about 'how can we help do that really well’”
Now we're in the final furlong of FPA, the transition phase, we're shifting how we deploy our support. Our places have nailed what it is they want to implement beyond the life of the FPA programme, so now we will do everything we can to help them get ready for that. We're less about 'what could be better than that', and more about 'how can we help do that really well'.
By Claire Graves, August 2021