Love Parks Week is going year-round after lottery funding was finally transferred to environmental charity Keep Britain Tidy.
The organisation took over Love Parks Week, along with the Green Flag Awards, from parks charity GreenSpace when it folded in March 2013.
But securing an award from the Big Lottery Fund approved just before the demise of GreenSpace has been more problematic, with funds in the hands of administrators.
Now Keep Britain Tidy has finally secured the £416,450 grant and is set to expand Love Parks Week, launched in 2006, to a year-round campaign called simply Love Parks.
A network of trained volunteers will be created to help conserve parks and green spaces in England and encourage more people to get involved in protecting them for future generations.
Love Parks will officially start this month and plans are underway to expand the network of existing area forums and bring together the thousands of friends’ groups that are already established.
One of the priorities for the initiative will be tackling the issue of the lack of usable green space in many communities, particularly in deprived areas.
Keep Britain Tidy chief executive Phil Barton said: "We know that parks and green spaces are essential in creating strong communities as well as making a major contribution to people’s health.
"We are delighted to have this support from the Big Lottery Fund as this will enable friends’ groups to take a more active role in ensuring their parks and green spaces are fit for purpose and deliver benefits for all users."
