The Friends of Roundhay Park - FoRP

The Friends of Roundhay Park (FoRP) was formed in 1994 by local Leeds residents who decided to get involved with the Park, rather than just grumbling about it to each other! Instead of complaining about litter and the lack of certain facilities, they had the vision to create an organisation bringing together all lovers of the Park.

Since that time, there has been a massive injection of Lottery funding into Roundhay Park, but there is still plenty that a willing group of volunteers can achieve. Just bear in mind that, in 1985, 65 people were employed in the Park - today, there are only 25 people to cover the 700 acre Park! FoRP currently have a Membership of around 250, made up of a complete mix of people. Anyone is welcome and you do not have to live in Roundhay to join - all that is needed is a love of Roundhay Park (and the small Membership fee, of course!).

STOP PRESS:
Click here for news of FoRP Calendar 2011 and new Events Listing

The Friends are committed to promote and to be involved actively in the appearance, preservation, restoration, improvement and well-being of Roundhay Park – for the benefit of all its users. Also, we keep a watchful eye on what is happening in the Park and on the Council’s plans for the Park and its buildings. We played a large part in defending The Mansion against it becoming Council offices in 2004 and we were delighted at its re-opening in August 2009.

From its inception, FoRP has been very active. Our first major project was to create The Friends’ Garden, successfully applying for Grants which, combined with our own resources, enabled us to have a Project Budget of over £10,000. The Garden is at the Old Park Road entrance to Canal Gardens.

In 2008, we opened The Geology Trail (in association with The Leeds Geological Association) and, in 2009, we opened The Lester Library.

Active members, a particularly enthusiastic bunch of people, enjoy the monthly Working Parties from November 2009 held on the second Saturday of every month or The Friends’ Garden Maintenance Group on occasional Tuesday mornings.

If you have a love of The Park, enjoy its open spaces, wooded areas, lakes etc, then FoRP is for you! Membership of The Friends of Roundhay Park costs just £10 per annum for individual membership and £15 per annum for a Family Membership and the benefits are:

A Membership Card, which allows the card-holders free access to Tropical World
Regular Newsletters, giving details of events and other news of Roundhay Park
Invitations to Meetings, Talks, etc
An opportunity to join our Working Parties
A warm feeling all over, because you are doing something for your Park!

All of the income from Membership is put back into the Park. Without this income, FoRP could not function.
Don't delay - join now!

We are proud to have played a role in many of the improvements that have taken place within the Park over the last few years. We have achieved many of our aims and invite you to explore this website to find out more about us

ABOUT THIS WEBSITE:

The original author was Tony Quinn of Red Door VR Limited who launched the website some years ago. FoRP remain eternally grateful to him for his work and his continued support in hosting the website. The current pages were revised and/or created by Alan Jackson in September 2009: all mistakes are his and any corrections/omissions/additions are welcome. Please send an email to

Thanks also to Peter Dyson for scanning old Newsletters - hopefully we have the full set. Further acknowledgements are due to Judith Rothenberg for the content of the Friends' Garden page, Bob Reid for the Geology Trail page, Lynda Kitching for the Lester Library page and Jon Vogler for the Working Parties page.

The revised website was designed on a computer with a 1024x768 screen and is best viewed in that resolution ie not using the full width of a wide screen. You can use the green underlined links or the headings in the left hand green box to navigate to particular pages, or again, use the 'Next Page' option below to scroll through all contents page by page. Return to this Homepage at any time by clicking on the FoRP logo or the link so named.

Whichever you choose, FoRP hope that you enjoy your visit and perhaps you can be tempted to make a donation or better still join us! Members have told us that they prefer to receive a hardcopy of the Newsletter so each edition is mailed to them. Subsequently, Newsletters are uploaded to the website.

The Friends provide details of forthcoming events at Roundhay Park in a listing at the end of each Newsletter. This information is based on our latest advice from the event organisers but please note that they may be subject to confirmation. SO PLEASE CHECK BEFORE MAKING YOUR WAY TO ANY EVENT. The Leeds City Council website may contain more information (NB opens in a new pop-up window): http://www.leeds.gov.uk