The video begins with a gentle music track led by a plucked string instrument and a title slide featuring the Sport England logo and the words ‘Sport England Every Move – Case studies: Addressing environmental inequalities at Garon Park’.
On a blank screen, the text ‘What is Garon Park?’ slides in.
We see a wide-angle view of a cricket ground and a close-up of flowers.
A man’s voice says: “Garon Park is a 200-acre green space in the ward of St Luke's in Southend-on-Sea.”
The man appears on screen and a caption introduces him as ‘Clive Shiret, Chair, Founding Member’. We see a greenhouse and picnic benches in front of a pavilion, more flowers and artificial football pitches.
Clive says: “It is one of the top 10% of most deprived areas in Britain. Garon Park CIC was formed in 2014 as a vehicle to rent the site.”
Clive is shown walking at Garon Park with another man, next to a sign that reads ‘Sensory Circle’, then we see another shot of the football pitches and a rabbit sculpture among wildflowers.
Clive continues: “32 acres at the time, unloved land, which we've now transformed into a beautiful destination sports and wellbeing facility for all.”
Another rabbit sculpture, a children’s play area, books in a free library box on a post, an outdoor gym, and plants under protective netting are shown in quick succession.
Clive says: “The set-up of the whole site is to have one side of leisure which is basically sports and the other side is wellbeing and we have a beautiful wellbeing park, which is set up to help the mental and physical health and wellbeing of the local community.”
More wildflowers, a fairy house built into a tree stump, the football pitches, the play area, a polytunnel with plants, and a child’s tipi among tree stumps are shown.
The next question slide reads ‘Why is climate and environmental justice important?’
A man is shown speaking to a crouching female colleague at Garon Park; we hear his voice and he is then introduced by a caption as ‘Andy Kilgour, Operations Assistant’ as he stands by plant boxes.
Andy says: “We found that Southend has a very particular green space deficit. Accessible levels are less than half the minimum recommended.”
More shots of the planted areas and a shed are shown, before we see young families sitting and playing in the green space, Andy talking to his colleague, a large water tank and a man working on a wood project under a small marquee.
Andy continues: “Tree canopy cover is low. It's less than 10% and the population per public park is among the worst in the country. We think that this is contributing to poor local health outcomes and really wide inequalities. It doesn't get more profound than life expectancy, for instance, and between the most and least deprived areas of the city that's up to 11 or 12 years.”
A woman plays with two young children around a small paddling bool containing plastic balls.
The next question slide reads ‘What have you done to address environmental inequalities?’
A man triumphantly holds up onion plants pulled from the ground and he’s joined by a woman doing the same thing.
He begins speaking to camera in a polytunnel and a caption introduces him as ‘Dr Liam King, Conservation Manager’.
Liam says: “We aim to address the significant green space deficit in Southend by leveraging this beautiful landscape.”
Liam is showing filling plant pots and picking up soil, before he continues: “The aim is to instil a sense of responsibility for this this beautiful area that we're in, empowering youth, promoting environmental stewardship, and really connecting people with nature.”
More shots of families enjoying the green space in the park, a shed and directional signs, older boys playing football, and younger girls making paper crowns on a table are shown.
Liam continues: “So right from the very beginning, we've been led by the wishes of the local community. All of our initial consultation discovered that there was a significant gap in provision for health and wellbeing and also access to green space for local people.”
We see Liam and his colleague among the onions and then back in the polytunnel, planting in pots.
Liam continues: “And so the first project was to install a wellbeing trail that that enabled equal access for everybody to get to all areas of the park.”
A flag with the text ‘Green Flag Award 2024/25’ flutters in the breeze and a close-up of the directional sign shows arrows pointing to ‘Gym Area 1’, ‘Orchard’, ‘Wedding Gazebo’ and ‘The Boundary’.
Liam continues: “Volunteers are the backbone of all of the activities and initiatives that we do here. They're responsible for the 15,000 trees that we planted, 4km of hedgerow, which in 2022 sequestered nearly two tonnes of CO2. So their contribution is extremely important to all of this.”
There’s a sign promoting the community garden and Shumei natural agriculture, another by the cricket pitch that reads ‘Welcome to The Peter Butler Oval’ and a third that reads ‘Welcome to the Hive Nature School’.
Liam continues: “So by far the most important thing for me is connecting people with nature, and this is why I'm here and this is why I do everything that I do.”
The next question slide reads ‘What is your advice for others?’
Colourful strips of material are shown hanging from branches, while metal cooking pots and painted lanterns hang from a line between trees. We see more shots of families in the park.
A new man’s voice says: “I think one of the main pieces of advice is speak to your community. Make sure you get the right funding with the right people.”
He then appears on screen and the caption introduces him as ‘Mark Stanley, Operations Manager’. We see more close-ups of flowers and a tiny crafted house, decorated with leaves.
Mark continues: “Collaborate with partners to make sure you can work together. And then most of all, everyone should get involved. The only way we will make a change is with everyone behind it.”
A carving on a high-backed wooden chair reads ‘Don’t judge a book by its cover’, above carvings of book characters including Stick Man and The Cat In The Hat.
The video ends with a blank slide that says ‘Created by’ above the logos of Useful Projects (part of the Useful Simple Trust and a social enterprise and B Corp sustainability consultancy) and Pictures for the People (a social enterprise video production agency).
