The Friends have been working with Lambeth Council since 2002 to bring new facilities and improvements to the park. The Fitness Area, the Flower Garden and new play equipment are examples of what we have achieved in recent years. Now we are excited to announce that following a long campaign, we have helped to secure an investment from the Council of over £1million.

As a result of Lambeth's budget cuts, unfortunately Parks staff have less time to spend in Kennington Park. Thanks to a generous annonymous donation the Friends run a monthly volunteer gardening scheme. See the Events page for details.

The Friends worked closely with the Kennington Chartist Project to plan a programme of workshops and events in 2018. We wanted to tell local people about the Kennington Chartists and their demands for parliamentary democracy, and to commemorate the 'monster' 1848 Chartist Rally on Kennington Common. Read more on our News & Events page, and on the Kennington Chartist Project website: http://www.kenningtonchartistproject.org We are now thinking about the 175th anniversary in 2023.

Working in conjunction with Trees for Cities, all the trees in the park and on the extension were surveyed in 2017 – we counted 480 trees in all! At our Community Tree Planting Day in November 2017, local volunteers and schoolchildren planted 20 more trees – so that's 500 trees in our park!

The Friends have an ongoing campaign to ensure that the park doesn't suffer as a result of the Council's cuts to the parks budget. Discussion is also ongoing about priorities for the Capital Programme for the Park

The park has been awarded a Green Flag for nine years in a row. In 2018 and 2019, the Flower Garden received a Gold Medal from London in Bloom, and the park was awarded Silver Gilt again. The Friends will continue to work with Lambeth to ensure that the park retains these prestigious awards!

Once Transport for London (TfL) complete work on the ventilation shaft, the dog walking area (between the war memorial and the site of the former park keeper's lodge) will be reinstated. This work may start in Autumn 2020. FoKP will be working to ensure that the ground, trees, railings and gates fit the bill.

The Friends work with Lambeth's Events Department to ensure that any event (community or commercial) that is held in the park is appropriate, well managed and does not damage the fabric of the work or peoples' enjoyment of their park. The Friends often attend pre and post event site meetings for big events. The Friends submitted detailed comments to Lambeth Council's consultation in May 2019 on its policy on events in parks. Concerns were raised about the damage to the south field.

The Friends of Kennington Park objected to TfL's plans, submitted to Lambeth Council's planning department, for the ventilation shaft head house. The Friends believed that the design was inappropriate in style and size for the heritage park. The plans were passed by Lambeth's planning department and building work started in Spring 2019. Discussion is ongoing about the tree planting in the area and the reinstatement of the dog walking area.

The FOKP is working with many local skateboarders to repair and restore the classic 1977 skatebowl at the northern end of the park. An initial structural survey is planned for February 2021.

Our park neighbours, Bee Urban, have planted a new flower bed outside their fencing to attract bees to their hives. With volunteers, they have also planted fruit trees in the Green Link that runs between the heritage park and park extension.

The Kennington Park Flower Garden underwent a complete restoration in 2016 funded by a generous grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund. The new sundial was paid for by the Friends of Kennington Park following a competition run in conjunction with our neighbours, the City and Guilds Art School.