The Nelson Mandela Park is a public park in Leicester

Leicester

Leicester is a city and unitary authority in the East Midlands of England, and the county town of Leicestershire. The city lies on the River Soar and at the edge of the National Forest...

, England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

. It is situated just inside the city centre near Leicester Prison and the Leicester Tigers

Leicester Tigers

Leicester Tigers is an English rugby union club that plays in the Aviva Premiership.Leicester are the most successful English club since the introduction of league rugby in 1987, a record 9 times English champions - 3 more than either Bath or Wasps, the last of which was in 2010...

' Stadium. The park was named to celebrate Nelson Mandela

Nelson Mandela

Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela served as President of South Africa from 1994 to 1999, and was the first South African president to be elected in a fully representative democratic election. Before his presidency, Mandela was an anti-apartheid activist, and the leader of Umkhonto we Sizwe, the armed wing...

.

The park's facilities include a small children's play area, flood-lighting, and public toilets. Various sports clubs use this green for practice meetings. Leicester Tigers Rugby Club were a user of this area before the club went fully professional.

On Friday 1 August 2007, the local council held "Nelson Mandela Sports Festival", as a celebration of 21 years of the park having held the name. Important people of the community were present including Councillor Gary Hunt, the Mayor of Leicester. At the event, 21 trees were planted to mark the 21 years of the park and the 21 wards of Leicester. The event was filmed so it could be given to Nelson Mandela himself to watch.