An updated set of free guides to help protect and care for open green spaces, including village greens, verges and informal play areas, is now available.

The three guides are freely available to anyone with an interest or concern about the greens spaces where they live. The guides provide easy to read, useful information covering the legal status and protection of open green spaces, common management issues, and an introduction to managing open green spaces for wildlife.

The guides have been updated by Friends of the Lake District as part of ‘Our Green Space', a project that aims to celebrate and enhance the heritage, cultural, environmental and community benefits of open green spaces in Cumbria for everyone to enjoy.

Carol Douglas Our Green Space project officer said: ‘We have written these guides to be as simple as possible so that they will be really useful to members of the community or parish councils grappling with the real issues of managing open green spaces and village greens. These are the bibles of green space management and are available free to anyone interested.'

The open green space guides are a must for anyone involved in managing or developing their local green space and have already proved very useful to many individuals and communities in Cumbria.

Download the guides from www.ourgreenspace.org.uk or contact Carol Douglas at on 01539 720788, email This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it , or Roe Baker at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

The Our Green Space project is supporting and enabling communities in Cumbria to restore, protect, better manage and use the green spaces where they live. It is a three year Cumbria-wide project managed by Friends of the Lake District in partnership with Action with Communities in Cumbria (ACT). The project began in January 2008, and has now been extended until December 2011, and is supported by the Heritage Lottery Fund's ‘Your Heritage' grant scheme.

Recently the project has been running a series of innovative seminars helping to provide information to communities on the laws, designations and other forms of legal protection that some green spaces have. A series of outdoor themed training sessions were also given around the county, providing much wanted advice on how to prepare plans to help guide management of local green spaces.

To find out more about the Our Green Space Project visit www.ourgreenspace.org.uk