The Friends of Cannizaro Park is a registered charity run by a small group of trustees, and is wholly dependent on the financial and practical support of its friends and volunteers.. It was founded in 1997 and works with Merton Council to protect the 300-year old Grade II* Listed Garden. The Council owns the park and The Friends of Cannizaro Park focuses on renovating and improving areas of the park with new planting and maintenance. The Friends also organises events and activities for the benefit of visitors and the local community.

The park has a long history, including years as the estate of the Duke of Cannizaro from whom it takes its name (the spelling was later amended). It became a public park in 1949, and its Grade II status traces to the exceptional quality of its trees and planting. The park is popular with horticulturalists and with general visitors, who come for a walk or a picnic, or simply to enjoy the peace and quiet in the different landscapes of the park.