The Friends

The Friends of Platt Fields Park is the oldest Park Friends Group in the country. Established by local people in 1990, the Friends exist to promote Manchester's Platt Fields Park and encourage improvements to the physical environment.
Information about Platt Fields Park >>

We aim to be a voice for the community, endorsing activities within the park, campaigning for action, raising funds, hosting events and providing a public face to work for the betterment of our historical park so that it is better used and enjoyed by local people.

We have over 100 members and a larger emailing list of interested local people who receive regular newsletters.
Newsletters >>

We host regular car boot sales, Christmas events and fetes to raise funds for the charity.
Events >>

We have regular monthly meetings and 4 general open meetings a year, with large billboards advertising the meetings around the entire park. Events lisitng and news can be found on the notice board outside the Lakeside Centre. At these meetings we discuss future plans and suggestions by local people and our president is the wonderful Sir Gerald Kauffman.

Friends members have initiated, encouraged and been engaged with countless events from the inspirational extravaganza Garden of Delights Festival, to the Eid mela, and Diwalia and we actively encourage cross-cultural events and projects hosted by a variety of cultures. We are right on the edge of Rusholme, and Islamic cultural celebrations are held here. We also host Carisma's peace marches - an anti gun-crime community group commemorating young people who have been shot in the Moss Side and Longsight gang wars.

As a Friends member you can help support and volunteer ongoing existing projects and organisations, or set up your very own project!

We are determined to improve the infrastructure of the park for activities and events, and bring people with energy, vision and commitment to harness the very different cultural needs of the residents here. We would like to be able to show over the next 5 years what can be done to animate an inner city park in a multitude of different ways. This is the legacy of the ground-breaking Garden of Delights week.

As a Friends group we are passionate about our park and this will translate into the work and activities that we arrange. We will also make sure that each project has a good display accompanying it, full of relevant information, as well as ensuring that there are correct policies/ procedures, documentation and archives in place for future members and the local community to preserve and maintain the park.

If you would like to become a member of the Friends of Platt Fields Park please contact Anne Tucker, (Secretary) on 0161 224 0020.