We are now halfway through Fields in Trust’s centenary year and as we look towards the next 100 years, we’re excited to share our new brand film.
The film features our Patron, The Prince of Wales, and our President, Jill Scott MBE, walking through one of our iconic protected parks and discussing why access to green space is crucial to supporting healthy communities – from providing space to socialise, exercise and play, to boosting our mental wellbeing and helping nature thrive.
We are hugely grateful to both The Prince of Wales and Jill Scott for their commitment to Fields in Trust’s mission.
The Prince of Wales served as our President from 2013 to 2025, and this year became our Patron as legendary England footballer and former Lioness Jill Scott joined us in July as our new President. Together, they make a fantastic team, and we’re thrilled they’re so passionate about protecting the UK’s parks and green spaces and supporting the work we do.
You may recognise the park in the film as Windlesham Field of Remembrance in Surrey. One of our protected parks, Windlesham Field of Remembrance is used by many local cricket and football teams – with a youth football club of over 300 members – and has a much-loved community hub and café.
It also has a play area, outdoor gym and a beautiful leafy area of woodland that’s home to a wide variety of wildlife. The woodland area also has a forest school, giving children the opportunity to learn, play outside and explore the natural world.
"Windlesham Village have an amazing open space facility shared by all for the use of recreation, sports, remembrance reflection and indeed family time," says the Field of Remembrance Charity. "It is important to work with Fields in Trust to ensure the protection of this Field remains with us for the foreseeable future."
Credit: Paul Ingram
Fields in Trust was founded in 1925 as the National Playing Fields Association by the Duke of York – later King George VI. Since then, we have seen the late Duke of Edinburgh, Prince Philip, serve a fantastic 64 years as an exceptionally committed President. Her late Queen Elizabeth II was also our Patron for an incredible 70 years.
Since 1925, we’ve also been the beneficiary of the world’s first charity single (‘If Only She’d Look My Way’ by Frank Sinatra in 1952), received the proceeds of not one, but two 1980s fact books by Sir Michael Caine, and even had support from a 1985 jumper design competition organised by our Vice President Gyles Brandreth.
For the last century, our mission has been about safeguarding the parks, playgrounds, playing fields and green spaces that form the heartbeat of many local communities – for people to enjoy not just now, but long into the future.
We legally protect green spaces in perpetuity, meaning once a space is protected with us, it is protected forever.
This year, we were excited to reach the milestone of over 3,000 parks protected. We now have 3,007 protected parks across the UK, with 19 new protections in 2025 alone.
Today, we protect over 13,300 hectares of land in total, ensuring over 9.2 million people live within a ten-minute walk of a protected space.
As we look ahead to the next 100 years, we’re excited to have launched a new five-year strategy. We plan to scale our ambition, grow our voice and strengthen our capacity to act.
Not only will we continue to fight for the protection of the UK’s parks, playgrounds, playing fields and green spaces, but we also plan to influence the creation of 20,000 hectares of new green space needed to keep pace with the government’s plan to build 1.5 million new homes by 2030.
We believe access to green space is a right, not a privilege.
Read our new strategy here.
You can also stay up to date with our work by subscribing to our e-newsletter or following us on social media (@fieldsintrust).