City of Surrey's Annual Financial Report 2021

CITY OF SURREY OVERVIEWS PARKS, RECREATION & CULTURE DEPARTMENT

The programs, facilities and services of the Parks, Recreation & Culture Department reflect people working together to improve recreation opportunities, protect the natural environment and enhance the quality of life for residents of Surrey. The department is organized into core service divisions, each responsible for a variety of services and facilities.

ADMINISTRATION & SUPPORT SERVICES Administration and Support Services’ key role is to provide ongoing support to the General Manager and Division Managers, in addition to department wide administrative duties. This Division also oversees the implementation of Surrey’s Sport Tourism Strategy, submitting bid applications to bring major sporting events to Surrey. COMMUNITY AND RECREATION Community and Recreation Services (CRS) operates diverse, state-of-the art facilities across Surrey where individuals, families and the community gather for improved health and well-being through social, educational, recreation and fitness opportunities. Its purpose is to provide quality, accessible health and wellness programs where participants can build relationships and learn. By working collaboratively with stakeholders and partners, CRS helps children and youth reach their full potential, support families with services, connects and engages with seniors and enables individuals to thrive. CULTURE The Culture Division leads the planning, development and implementation of Cultural Policies, Cultural Facilities, and contribution of knowledge and leadership to local, regional and national arts, culture and heritage issues and initiatives. The Division provides City-wide arts, heritage, and cultural services, including cultural grants and supports the development of community arts and heritage organizations. Public Art Program, Arts Services, Performing Arts, Special Events, Heritage Services, and Filming portfolios for the City are also a part of the Culture umbrella.

MARKETING, COMMUNICATION, WEB AND NEW MEDIA The Corporate Marketing and Communications Division supports the department and corporation by providing expertise, strategic guidance and services related to marketing and communications and community engagement on campaigns and key initiatives. The Division is responsible for establishing and maintaining city-wide operations-related communications standards and media guidelines corporately. The Web and New Media Section oversees the City’s social media policy and web content best practices by providing expertise, guidance and services related to enhancing the web presence and ensuring customers receive timely information via various digital channels. PARKS The Parks division plans, develops and maintains the City’s extensive park system, a civic marina and three cemeteries. The division plays a key role in the stewardship of the natural environment and the engagement of our residents, through the delivery of a variety of outdoor programs, services and events, including nature-based education and stewardship programs, active recreation and play amenities and community engagement initiatives. The division also provides advice and permits to community event organizers and facilitates the review of permit requests through Festivals Events Service Team (FEST) Committee.

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• Strengthened indigenous community engagement via ongoing dialogue to inform the design and programming of Indigenous Carving Centre at Elgin Heritage Park/ Stewart Farm. • Coordinated the Online Youth Nights to provide young people in Surrey the opportunity to recreate, volunteer and connect with peers and positive adult allies. From May 2020–December 2021, 65 Online Youth Nights have been held and have engaged 1,993 youth attendees and 115 youth volunteers between the ages of 10–21 years. • Awarded UBCM Award of Excellence in Service Delivery for the “Urban Forest Resources for Outdoor Learning” project.

• Surrey Civic Theatres Summer POP! Performances Outdoors in Parks: To bring arts experiences to residences while PHOs required theatres closed. • 2021 Surrey Fusion Festival was successful in engaging both past attendees, performers and local pavilion organizers to produce a one-of-a-kind digital event experience that authentically shared cultural education, heritage and traditions with viewers. VSFF garnered more than 20,418 engagements throughout the social media campaign. • Museum of Surrey exhibition: BEES! A strong partnership with Honeybee Centre and other bee farmers in Surrey and a travelling exhibit grant ($49,000) meant we were able to build the first large scale travelling exhibit for Museum of Surrey.

• Hosted four trees sales events for the public, with over 4,000 trees purchased by residents to plant on private property. • Planted more than 17,500 trees in parks and along streets. • Development of 12 new courts, dedicated to the pickleball facility on the retrofitted MV reservoir lid in South Surrey Athletic Park. • Awarded the BCRPA Facility Excellence award for projects over $1 million to the North Surrey Sport and Ice Complex in the City of Surrey. The award recognizes outstanding innovation in facility concept, design development, maintenance, or operation in a facility.

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