
The Green Flag Award is an international quality classification benchmark for parks and green spaces, providing the high standards against which sites are measured, and which land managers, local authorities and volunteers pledge to achieve when applying for the award.
Parks form a vital part of the country’s green infrastructure, providing opportunities to improve physical and mental health, even in the most built-up urban environments. The Green Flag Award standard accredits and recognises sites that meet the needs of the community, and ensures they maintained, safe and provide people with the opportunity to lead healthy lifestyles.
Managed by Keep Britain Tidy under licence from the Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government, the scheme was launched 29 years ago. The first awards were issued a year later, to recognise and reward the best green spaces in the country. Cockington Country Park, Worden Park, Queen’s Park and Highgate Wood received their first Green Flag Award in 1997 and won every year since.
As the environmental charity, Keep Britain Tidy announced the original award winning parks are now joined by:
- Whitworth Memorial Gardens, Rossendale Borough Council
- East Herringthorpe Crematorium and Cemetery, Dignity Plc working with Rotherham Council
- West Smethwick Park, Sandwell Borough Council
- Radipole Park & Gardens, Weymouth Town Council
- Strand Aldwych, Krinkels UK, working with Westminster City Council
Green Heritage Site Accreditation
In addition, 138 of the winners have received a Green Heritage Site Accreditation for the management of historic features, supported in England by Historic England. To achieve the accreditation, winners have to understand and take action to conserve the heritage value of their site. They also need to help people to understand and enjoy its unique history, from nationally important parks to local green spaces that help tell the story of places and communities.
The 2025 recipients of the Green Heritage Site Accreditation includes:
- St James’s Park and The Green Park, The Royal Parks
- Saltwell Park, Gateshead Council
- Ampthill Great Park, Ampthill Town Council
Green Flag Community Awards
A total of 464 sites managed by voluntary and community groups were given a Green Flag Community Award, including:
- Redbourne St Andrews Churchyard, Redbourne Churchyard Companions
- Stoney Hill Community Wildlife Area, Spotland Tenants and Residents Association
- The Oval Bandstand and Lawns, GRASS Cliftonville CIC
“We are thrilled to see that an incredible 2,250 sites have met the standards required for a Green Flag Award, reflecting the tireless work of the people tasked with caring for and improving these crucial national assets. Our quality parks and green spaces make the UK a heathier place in which to live and work, and a stronger place in which to invest. Through the Green Flag Award and our campaigning as a charity, we will continue to advocate for good quality green infrastructure that maximises benefits for people and nature, whether that’s through exercise and wellbeing, or playing a part in helping us mitigate and adapt to some of the effects of our changing climate.
“The Green Flag Award sets the standard for caring for these sites amid growing recognition that our green spaces can be part of the climate solution. We know that the plants and trees in parks help to mitigate the harmful carbon emissions that are driving climate change. They act as cooling havens as we face hotter, drier summers and play an important part in climate change adaptation and mitigation, including helping to reduce incidences of flooding,” said Keep Britain Tidy’s Chief Executive, Allison Ogden-Newton OBE.
The charity believes the standards expected in the Green Flag Award should be a minimum for every park and aims for a significant increase in the number of sites achieving Green Flag Award status by 2030, so that people, wherever they live, can access and enjoy safe, high-quality green space.
Erika Diaz Petersen, Historic England’s Principal National Landscape Adviser, added: “We congratulate this year’s winners for their achievements in reaching Green Flag Award standards for looking after our vital green infrastructure. Heritage is at the heart of our green infrastructure networks, from public parks to our canal network, providing crucial benefits for people and nature, and a critical resource for climate resilience. Historic England is pleased to support Green Heritage Site Accreditation, which recognises the achievements of Green Flag Award winners who meet additional criteria and care for, share and celebrate the heritage of their sites.”