Inverness photographer, Morag Macritchie, was in London on Friday (3 September) to see her winning ‘Postcards from the Park’ photo, Bubbles, exhibited at Southwark Park Café Gallery and to meet celebrity photographer Mike McCartney and environmentalist Chris Packham. The competition was organised by the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) and the Big Lottery Fund (BIG) in partnership with parks charity GreenSpace.

Chosen as the Scotland category winner of this UK-wide competition, Morag’s photo, taken in Whin Park, Inverness, hugely impressed the judges who included Mike McCartney. Her photo has also been turned into postcards which are available at Lottery-funded venues and parks.

Morag Macritchie, said: "I am delighted to have won the Scotland category of the 'Postcards from the Park' competition and am thrilled to have my photo exhibited in the Southwark Park Cafe Gallery in London. We are blessed in the Highlands of Scotland with many green, open spaces, and the city of Inverness itself offers beautiful views of the River Ness and the surrounding hills. I spend many happy hours in the parks of my home city with our own family and am delighted that this award-winning photograph was taken in Whin Park.”

Environmentalist and presenter, Chris Packham, said: “We’re so lucky in the UK to have such wonderful and varied green spaces which not only offer massive benefits in terms of health, quality of life and well-being, but also offer brilliant opportunities to get up close and personal with nature. It’s essential we keep on investing in them as there is still plenty of work to be done to look after them all properly. Every community deserves to be near a great park!”

Carole Souter, Chief Executive of HLF, said on behalf of HLF and BIG: "Parks are vital places that give people an opportunity to escape the daily hustle and bustle and enjoy the fresh air. The huge number of photographs that were entered for this competition shows just how popular they are right across the country. That is why HLF and BIG support parks with such a massive investment of our funding.”

Loving our public parks
‘Postcards from the Park’ highlights the unique part that parks play in community life and promotes HLF and BIG’s joint funding programme, ‘Parks for People’, which has to date invested £600m in improving and transforming the UK’s public parks and green spaces. 

View gallery of the winning entries.

Notes to editors

Using money raised through the National Lottery, the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) sustains and transforms a wide range of heritage for present and future generations to take part in, learn from and enjoy. From museums, public parks and historic places to archaeology, species and skills, HLF invests in every part of our diverse heritage. HLF has supported 33,900 projects, allocating £4.4billion across the UK. 

The Parks for People programme uses Lottery funds to support the regeneration, conservation and increased enjoyment of public parks. The programme aims to improve the local environment and put parks firmly back at the heart of community life. In England the two Lottery Funds have been working in partnership from 2006 to deliver a multi-million pound investment in public parks of £150m. Over the past three years, the Big Lottery Fund (BIG) has invested £80m (in England only) with £70m coming from the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) for the UK.

HLF is continuing to fund public park projects in 2010 with an investment of £20m each year. The next closing date for applications is 31st August 2010. The Big Lottery Fund (BIG) remains committed to working in partnership with the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) in making a success of the Parks for People programme and has allocated £10 million in its grant budget for 2010/11 towards the programme in England.

HLF has invested £527m in over 530 historic public parks, gardens, squares and promenades right across the UK.

The Big Lottery Fund (BIG) rolls out close to £2million in Lottery good cause money every 24 hours, which together with other Lottery distributors means that across the UK most people are within a few miles of a Lottery-funded project. BIG, the largest of the National Lottery good cause distributors, has been rolling out grants to health, education, environment and charitable causes across the UK since its inception in June 2004. The Big Lottery Fund and its predecessor bodies have invested more than £1.3billion in environmental initiatives. www.biglotteryfund.org.uk

GreenSpace is a registered charity which works to improve parks and green spaces by raising awareness, involving communities and creating skilled professionals.
www.green-space.org.uk

‘Biodiversity is Life’ - HLF and BIG - helping to safeguard our natural wealth and reduce biodiversity loss. www.biodiversityislife.net

Further information

Katie Owen, HLF Press Office on 020 7591 6036. Out of hours mobile on 07973 613820.