photo by Jo Jackson

The Friends of Richmond Park is a voluntary society whose objective is to conserve the Park, its natural beauty and wildlife, and to advance public education about the Park. We became a charity in December 2009. To achieve our objectives, we:

1. Work with Park management on conservation initiatives; we also fund conservation projects
2. Attempt to influence the Royal Parks and central/local government policies towards conservation
3. Resist planned developments that threaten the Park and its wildlife
4. Provide volunteers to staff the Visitor Centre, for conservation work, and for work documenting the history of the Park
5. Organise educational activities for schools and young people
6. Organise guided walks, courses and talks to local societies 
7. Publish a regular newsletter, a monthly email, a Park guidebook and self-guided family walks
8. Work with Park management and the policy to improve observance of Park regulations concerning wildlife

We have about 1500 members, mainly drawn from people living around the Park, and an Executive Committee of Trustees, elected annually. 

The Friends was formed in 1961 when there was a public outcry over measures to allow motor traffic to drive through the Park at night and to increase the speed limit from 20 to 30 mph. As a result of the outcry, the gates to the Park were once more closed at dusk. Subsequent pressures to include the Park in the national highway system were also successfully resisted. In 2004 the speed limit was reduced back to 20 mph.

The great challenge we face is to balance the needs of Park users and those of the Park's ecology; to find ways of allowing visitors to enjoy the Park yet at the same time conserve it for the benefit of future generations. Increased visitor numbers and increased intensity of use for all kinds of human activity have a severe impact on the Park's fragile ecology and threaten to spoil its special character.