Bankside Open Spaces Trust was set up in 2000 by a group of local people with an aim to improve the area, making it greener and a more beautiful place to live and work.

Since then the charity has helped to create and look after over 45 individual parks and gardens in a relatively small area of built-up central London, following the river along from Waterloo in the west to London Bridge in the east. These include Red Cross Garden, Waterloo Green, Diversity Garden, Marlborough Sports Garden, Tate Modern Community Garden, Crossbones Garden and Mint Street Park. Each site is unique, with its own atmosphere, identity and sense of place.

They have received numerous awards including the UNESCO Man and Biosphere award, London in Bloom Champion of Champions and the MPGA London Spade for the community gardening partnerships.

The team works closely with local people to ensure that open spaces are created and managed with the involvement of residents, community groups and businesses alike. They do this in a number of ways to ensure maximum input from local people including regular gardening groups, supporting parks steering groups, organising public events, devising educational projects and offering advice to others.

The London Boroughs of Southwark and Lambeth are major partners and supporters of the work they do, as well as numerous other charities, housing associations, educational and health organisations, landowners and individual donors who have worked with us and helped us over the years.