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 Wales category winner of this UK-wide competition, Lee’s photo, taken in Singleton Park, Swansea, hugely impressed the judges who included Mike McCartney. His photo has also been turned into postcards which are available at Lottery-funded venues and parks.

Lee Aspland, said: “I’m delighted to have won the Wales category of the ‘Postcards from the Park’ competition; it’s so exciting to have my photo exhibited in a London gallery. I spend a lot of time in Singleton, Clyne and Brynmill Parks mostly to walk my dog or take photos. I took this photo on a snow day in Swansea. This is a rare occurrence in wet Wales and I was out in the park with my wife, kids and dog at 8am. I later returned to the park with kids, snow toys and camera looking for images that illustrated the fun people were having on this, the rarest of days.”

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 which has to date invested £600m in improving and transforming the UK’s public parks and green spaces.

People love parks*
• 93% of people say that parks are a high priority for Lottery environment and heritage funds.
• 95% of visits to HLF funded parks are enjoyable, peaceful and relaxing.
• 86% of parents with young children and 89% of grandparents say that on a nice day their children would prefer to go to the park than watch TV.

Local success stories
Local public parks that have been transformed thanks to Heritage Lottery Fund investment include £1.1m to Brynmill Park in Swansea and £1.4m to Victoria Gardens in Neath.

Notes to editors

*Information sourced by HLF

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. For more information please go to www.green-space.org.uk  

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

Further information

Kate Sullivan or Helen Newton, HLF's PR Agency in Wales, Equinox Communications on 029 2076 4100 or hlf@equinoxcommunications.co.uk  

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