Nottingham residents will be able to take advantage of hundreds of free and fun activity sessions taking place across the city as ParkLives returns for a second year.

ParkLives, a programme from Coca-Cola Great Britain in partnership with Nottingham City Council, offers free and fun activity sessions in parks and green spaces.

This year the programme will offer more than 20 fun and informal activities, with brand new sessions including paddleboard yoga, Nordic walking and archery, alongside returning favourites such as basketball and Tai Chi.

The timetabled sessions are an hour long and led by a trained activity leader from the local area. A full timetable can be found at www.parklives.com.

The action kicks off this month and will run through to October, with an extended programme running throughout the summer holidays. Parks taking part this year include:

• Forest Recreation Ground
• Colwick Country Park
• Radford Recreation Ground
• Victoria Embankment Park
• Highfields Park

ParkLives will celebrate National Walking Month throughout May, with many of the weekly activity sessions tying into this theme, including Nordic walking, walking-basketball, walking-netball, health walks and nature walks.

Nottingham City Council’s Portfolio Holder for Leisure and Culture, Councillor Dave Trimble, said: “The ParkLives initiative is a great idea, giving people the chance to make the most of their local parks in a fun and innovative way. Nottingham City Council is always looking for ways to help more people keep active, which is what ParkLives does, offering accessible activities that are open to all abilities. I’d encourage everyone to sign up and find out what’s happening in their local area.”

Liz Lowe, ParkLives lead at Coca-Cola Great Britain, said: “ParkLives is all about bringing communities together to enjoy fun, free activities in their local green spaces. With brand new activities, ParkLives in Nottingham is set to be even bigger and better in 2016. It’s an opportunity to get out there and try something new with your friends and family, have fun and be active in the great outdoors. For many years we have supported programmes that invest in the wellbeing of local communities – and ParkLives is a long-term partnership programme which does just that. Now in its third year, it’s fantastic to see the programme go from strength to strength and expand nationwide to ten cities across the UK.”

ParkLives launched in 2014 and is part of a £20 million commitment by Coca-Cola Great Britain to invest in community-based projects that help people be active. The programme now runs in ten cities across the UK: Birmingham, Dundee, Glasgow, Manchester, Newcastle, Nottingham, Newham (London), Swansea, Southampton and Stoke-on-Trent.

A full timetable – including a postcode-led local park finder – can be found at www.parklives.com where people can register to book a free activity session for themselves, as well as friends and family.