More than a playground

A group of lads grin and wave at the camera while they are interviewed as part of a community consultation event about the adventure playground planned for their Luton neighbourhood. “It’d be wicked but it’ll never happen,” says one. His mate adds: “They’ll probably do a couple of ideas and leave the rest out.”

Those comments threw down the gauntlet to Nila Patel, who was the play strategy manager for the area. “We had to make it happen and fast,” she says. It happened in just a year. Now, three years after that video was filmed, the tall towers of Hart Hill Adventure Playground rise out of the mist of a cold February morning.

It is freezing. But a team from New Horizons – a group for adults with disabilities – are picking up litter and raking the sand. Meanwhile, a representative from a Muslim prayer group has popped in to book the clubhouse for regular Friday prayer sessions.

Despite the wintry weather children will come tonight without a shadow of a doubt, says senior play worker Simon Goodhall. “Rain, snow, whatever the weather, we will get children here,” he says.

The playground was built with about £800,000 in government funding for children’s play, after Luton Borough Council successfully bid to become a “play pathfinder” under the last administration. Since opening in February 2011, the facility – which includes a multi-sports pitch and the sizeable clubhouse with kitchen and toilets – has helped breathe new life into the area.

Young users’ input
The playground itself houses bulky wooden structures with swings, poles, slides, a rope bridge and a zip wire. There is a pond and a moat that fills up when it rains; a fire pit where young people brew hot chocolate; water features and sandpits; and a treehouse designed and built by young people.

There is evidence of young users’ input all around: rocks painted like creatures, mosaics crafted from bottle tops, and dangling, tactile sculptures constructed from CDs.

Local children and families have made the site their own. Getting to this point was not easy though, since the concept of adventure play was something of a mystery to many in Luton, explains Patel. As well as “evangelising” about the benefits, advocates also had to overcome concerns about safety and worries about putting the playground on a former primary school site, surrounded by homes.

“I did lots of research and it was clear we needed a site in the middle of a community that children could get to on foot without having to rely on parents,” she says. She also realised she had to bring in some serious play know-how in the form of the charity Children’s Links, which brought the “expertise, enthusiasm and understanding” to get the playground up and running.

Children’s Links ran an extensive consultation exercise with local children, parents and others. This included taking young people to see other adventure playgrounds, which paid off. Some feared the playground would be a magnet for vandals but there have been few problems. Police figures show incidents of antisocial behaviour and petty crime have fallen in the vicinity.

Clive Yates is play developer for Children’s Links and the current playground manager. “The kids police it themselves,” he says. “They don’t damage it, so if someone else does, then they’re onto it. The fact the kids were involved from day one is a big plus. They have that sense of ownership and pride.”

Ten-year-old Jez Etakala and his three siblings all use the playground. “I used to just play inside and didn’t really enjoy playing outdoors but now I like going outdoors,” he says. “This place is very important because children can come here after school and play and you have staff to look after you. You can meet new friends and play together.”

Kyle Bence, who is 14, says: “I come down about two or three times a week. It’s made a big difference to me because I used to go round the streets with my hood up and stuff, being bad and since I came here I started being good and have gone back to school.”

Simon Goodhall is one of three permanent part-time staff who are supported by two sessional workers. He has seen a distinct improvement in behaviour in the two years of Hart Hill’s existence. “It has become a lot more respectful and the relationship between staff and children is a lot better,” he says.

Local parent Kellie Smith says the place has made a “massive difference”. Her 13-year-old daughter Evan is on the young people’s council, which helps set the playground rules and shape how it is run. The playground has a strong focus on inclusion for children with disabilities, which is a boon to her younger daughter Imogen, 11, who uses a wheelchair.

“There are not many places you can go where you can take them both and do something together,” says Smith. “The facilities are fantastic and it has brought people together.” The site boasts a changing area with hoists – the only facility of its kind in Luton – and specialist play equipment including a wheelchair swing.

Three groups for families with children with special needs – Families United Network, Phab Frendz and Autism Beds – club together to hire the playground regularly with up to 50 children and adults attending.

“What’s nice is this is such an ordinary thing to do,” says Sandra Warner of the Families United Network. “If you take a child with complex needs out for a picnic you have to bring them home if they want the toilet but you can spend a whole afternoon here. It allows people to do what other families take for granted.”

Noreen Walsh of Phab Frendz says her daughters, Eimear, 10 and 18-year-old Sinead – who has complex needs and is in a wheelchair – both find the playground irresistible.

“At an ordinary park Sinead would just be sitting and looking on whereas here she can swing with the other children,” says Walsh.

The commitment to inclusion continues with the partnership with the New Horizons group for adults with complex needs and disabilities. They come in twice a week to maintain the site. “It gives our guys a bit of a profile,” says community support worker John Goodyear. “The public see they can contribute and it’s important they get that bit of recognition.” One young man from New Horizons, who has autism, also helps with play sessions.

In a short space of time, the playground has become a valued community hub. And yet, with children’s play services across the country hit by funding cuts, the future of Hart Hill is far from secure.

Like all local authorities, Luton has been forced to make tough decisions, which included ceasing full funding for the playground from March last year.

“We’re working really hard to keep it moving forward and have had to look for other funding streams,” says Karen Wilkinson, director of children’s services at Children’s Links.

For example, the playground was able to secure £56,000 from the Social Action Fund to boost volunteering and other activities up to the end of March 2013. The charity also hires out the playground to others such as the youth service, nurseries and schools, and to local people for parties. It has also staged some paid-for events such as training courses and discos for young people.

Nevertheless, a report produced by Children’s Links has revealed a £50,000 shortfall in the budget for 2012/13. The council provided about £10,000 of that. But it is time to make some decisions about the site’s future, admits councillor Sheila Roden, portfolio holder for community development.

“Funding is an issue but we’re determined it won’t close,” she stresses. “We’re very open to ideas.” One option could be that Children’s Links takes over the site entirely.

At the moment it is the passion and commitment of staff, volunteers and local people that keeps it alive. The Friends of Hart Hill Adventure Playground has had a crucial role. The group has more than 30 members – a mix of parents and others with an interest in ensuring the facility thrives.

Regular volunteers include young people looking for work experience with children, and older community members keen to put something back. Events have raised some money such as a Christmas fair co-ordinated by the friends group and young people’s council.

“It gave them such a buzz to see they could do that and now they have lots of other ideas,” says senior play worker Sharon Fortune. “And everyone has started donating stuff, leaving things in my front garden like half a tin of paint or a broken slide because they know we can use it.”

Fortune is a mother-of-six whose youngest two children along with her five grandchildren all use the playground. She says she “fell in love” with the site and like everyone else is determined to keep the momentum going.

“I’ve seen children growing up around here and going off the rails. Now they can come here and it’s like a home for some of them, a place of safety,” she says. “You see them play for the first time, be a child for the first time. It’s so much more than a playground.”