The Land

ACTION

The Land is part of a portfolio of play opportunities on Wrexham's Plas Madoc estate, run by the Association of Voluntary Organisations in Wrexham (AVOW). Playworkers started visiting the estate during school holidays 13 years ago with a trailer of loose parts for creative play, then introduced street play. AVOW play department manager Claire Griffiths says this helped create "a playful culture" on the estate, making people "more open and accepting of the idea of a junk playground".

The Land was a piece of wasteland by the estate where Griffiths says children had already explored and played, building "attachment and feelings of ownership to the environment". Realising children needed their own space, playworkers applied for support from environmental funding body WREN. The only alteration needed was a fence, recalls Griffiths, "to protect children's creations, dens, temporary homes and secret spaces". AVOW leased the land from Wrexham Council, opening it as a staffed playground in February 2012 with donated materials, including pieces of wood and plastic tunnels. None of the play materials have monetary value, except the crash mats. "Children want to change and adapt the environment; they can't do this if something has to be protected, due to cost," explains Griffiths. "They never asked for fixed structures or expensive equipment; they wanted fires, to paddle in the water, dig, create and destroy."