During 2025/26, Fife Centre for Equalities worked with the Fife Common Grounds Network and a range of local partners to renew the Peace Garden in Beveridge Park, creating a welcoming space where people from different faiths, backgrounds and communities can come together, build relationships and strengthen community cohesion.

The project grew from wider work to revitalise interfaith and community engagement activity across Fife. In 2024, Fife Centre for Equalities assumed stewardship of the former Fife Interfaith Group following a period of reduced activity during and after the pandemic. Seeking to understand the needs and aspirations of faith and belief communities, the organisation hosted its first Interfaith Summer Gathering, bringing together 41 participants representing 15 different faith and belief groups, alongside individuals interested in supporting interfaith and community-building activity.

Discussions during the gathering highlighted a desire for safe and welcoming spaces where people could come together to share experiences, learn from one another and build stronger relationships across communities. Through a series of follow-up events, participants identified the Peace Garden in Beveridge Park as an important symbol of the group's shared history and a potential focal point for future engagement. With support from network members, plans were developed to restore and enhance the space so it could once again serve as a place for reflection, dialogue and community activity.

Working alongside partners including the Community Safety Partnership, Kirkcaldy Decides, Fife Council's Community Engagement Team and local business Sweeney & Sons Stonemasonry, Fife Centre for Equalities developed a proposal for the garden's renewal. Funding of £15,000 was successfully secured through the Kirkcaldy Decides Participatory Budgeting programme, enabling the project to move forward. A series of design sessions were held throughout 2025, culminating in a final collaborative session during the Summer Gathering, ensuring that local people played a central role in shaping the future of the space.

Alongside the garden renewal, the group reflected on its future purpose and direction. This led to the transition from the Fife Interfaith Group to the Fife Common Grounds Network. The new name reflects a broader focus on community safety, cohesion and shared understanding, recognising that faith continues to play an important role while creating space for wider participation from people of all backgrounds and beliefs.

The growth of the network demonstrates the positive impact of this approach. At the point the former Interfaith Group concluded, it had two active members. By 2025/26, the Common Grounds Network had grown to 53 members representing more than 40 faith, belief and community organisations, alongside individuals committed to strengthening community life across Fife. This expansion has helped create new opportunities for dialogue, partnership working and community-led action.

Engagement undertaken by Fife Centre for Equalities during the year also provided valuable insight into what communities want from local spaces and activities. Participants highlighted the importance of informal, people-led community spaces that enable people to connect outside of formal services. Many expressed a desire for more opportunities to meet others from different backgrounds, greater access to affordable community venues and activities, and safe public spaces where everyone feels welcome and included. These findings have reinforced the importance of projects such as the Peace Garden in creating places where connection, belonging and understanding can flourish.

The project supports the Plan for Fife priority of Community Wealth Building and Leading Economic Recovery and contributes to ambitions around creating attractive public spaces, improving community safety, increasing access to cultural and leisure opportunities, and involving communities in shaping local services and initiatives. By bringing together people from different backgrounds around a shared goal, the project is helping to strengthen relationships, build trust and enhance community cohesion across Fife.

Looking ahead, the Common Grounds Network plans to continue expanding its membership and engagement activity, strengthening connections between faith groups, community organisations and residents. Future work will include greater engagement with New Scots and other communities who may use faith-based networks as a route into wider community participation. The Peace Garden will continue to serve as both a symbol and a practical example of what can be achieved when diverse communities work together, creating opportunities for active citizenship, shared understanding and stronger, more connected communities across Fife.