About Friends of Guild Park
Friends of Guild Park is an award-winning not-for-profit organization. We bring activities and awareness to historic Guild Park & Gardens, where Art Meets Nature.
We started in 2013 as a community group of dedicated volunteers focused on protecting, revitalizing and helping visitors enjoy the unique features of this 88-acre park, located along the Scarborough Bluffs.
What we do
Friends of Guild Park began by leading on-site walking tours and organizing small-scale events. At the time, Guild Park was full of abandoned landmarks and neglected buildings. The park and its features were at serious risk. In 2011, the National Trust for Canada described the site’s original Guild Inn was almost lost to "demolition by neglect."
Friends of Guld Park began collaborating with Guildwood Village residents and other park supporters, to raise awareness for Guild Park as a hidden gem in Toronto. We held more park events that attracted more visitors and attention.
We also started advocating for better facilities to improve the visitor experience at Guild Park. Our goal is for everyone who arrives gets to enjoy the inspiring combination of nature and art that exists only at Guild Park.
As a result of these efforts, combined with our collaborations with other park stakeholders, more than 200,000 people now come to Guild Park each year – that’s ten times more visitors compared to when Friends of Guild Park began.
Guild Park Priorities
Much work remains to be done so Guild Park delivers quality visitor experiences to the increasing numbers of people attracted to this site.
Meanwhile, Friends of Guild Park continues our efforts to make things better for Guild Park visitors. We are strong advocates for the site’s ongoing revitalization. We bring a “whole-park” approach to the improvements, public stewardship programs and other initiatives that bring new resources to the site.
Current Initiatives of Friends of Guild Park include:
• Hosting Activities - Organizing tours and events that highlight the park. Guided Walks. Nature Talks. Clean Ups.
• Telling the Story - Conveying Guild Park’s compelling legacy to the world. Plaques. Public Talks. Online Content.
• Collaborating - Helping other groups / programs bring more people /programs to the site. Guild Festival Theatre. Arts In The Parks. Heritage Toronto
• Building Best Practices - Putting in place top-notch park features/ plans. Native Pollinator Garden. Guild Park improvements recommended by the City of Toronto
• Gaining Support - Engaging more people in new ways to make Guild Park world- renowned.
Our Successes
We measure success through the eyes of Guild Park visitors.
Friends of Guild Park is eager to have people inspired by the nature and art that can be discovered throughout the site.
That’s why our mission to see Guild Park operate as a spectacular and sustainable destination that can welcome the world.
Here are some notable successes that our volunteer team has achieved - many done in partnership with other groups:
2013 - Organized volunteer shoreline clean-ups. In 11 years, volunteers cleared more than 3 tonnes of garbage on site
2013 - Began partnering with Doors Open, Jane’s Walk, & Arts in the Park programs.
2013 & 2019 - Won Heritage Toronto Community Heritage Award
2015 - Selected for one of Canada’s Dutch-Canadian Friendship Tulip Gardens
2019 & 2022 - Advocated for and helped reopen 2 new arts facilities in the park
2020 - Sponsored the park’s first Heritage Toronto Plaque for “Guild of All Arts”
2022 - Helped establish the site’s first Native Pollinator Garden, winner of the City of Toronto’s Best Community Garden Award, 2024