Eat sizzling food al fresco in Milton Keynes park thanks to barbecue stones

The Parks Trust has been able to instal a series of special flat-topped stones just perfect for that family meal al fresco, helped by funding from the Tesco Bags of Help initiative,

The Parks Trust, which looks after over 6,000 acres of parks, lakes and landscapes across Milton Keynes, regularly receives requests for barbecues to be held on its land and needs to have dedicated sites because of the damage that can be caused by them.

If placed directly on to the ground, disposable barbecues can leave scorch marks, with each mark costing self-financing charity The Parks Trust around £50 to repair.

The new site at Campbell Park canalside features the stones, on which disposable barbecues can be placed, ensuring a pleasant, safe and damage-free experience. Picnic tables are also due to be installed shortly.

Julie Dawes, The Parks Trust’s events and community engagement manager, said: “We know there’s nothing quite like eating outdoors on a sunny day, but barbecues can cause damage, create litter and present a real health and safety risk if used carelessly.

“They can also incur repair costs for us, which as a self-financing charity we need to minimise as much as possible.

“By creating this new barbecue site, we hope to encourage people to hold them responsibly and in areas that will have little impact on the parkland. We are very grateful to Tesco for the funding we received through their Bags of Help initiative, and hope people enjoy using the new site when the weather warms up!”

The Parks Trust received £2,000 from the Tesco Bags of Help initiative.

Tesco teamed up with Groundwork to launch its Bags of Help funding initiative, which sees grants - raised from the 5p bag levy - being awarded to thousands of local community projects every year.

Voting for the initiative runs in Tesco stores, with customers choosing which local project they would like to get the top award using a token given to them at the check-out.

For more information about holding a barbecue in Milton Keynes’ parks, visit http://www.theparkstrust.com/whats-on/holding-a-barbeque-in-the-parks