London playgrounds range from engaging, creative spaces to unsafe, dirty, broken down wastelands. Parent campaigners and charity groups are fed up with the state of play areas are taking action to create change.
We spoke with Fiona Sutherland, director of the charity London Play about their ‘saddest playground’ campaign and how they are trying to improve opportunities for play across 
London.
Please introduce London Play…
London Play is a small but influential charity that has a vision of a capital city where every child has the space, time and freedom to play outside, daily, near to where they live. You can read more about us and our projects on our website here.
Please tell us about your London’s Saddest Playground competition…
Our London’s Saddest Playground campaign aims to shine a spotlight on substandard play provision in the capital and inspire people to demand better from local decision makers. It is far from methodologically rigorous process! It simply relied on people seeing our callout on social media and responding – either by tagging London Play, using the hashtag #LondonsSaddestPlayground on social media or just emailing their pics in. Similarly the vote was also run via social media on Valentines Day, asking people to vote for the playground they think is most in need of love. We had nearly 2,000 votes this year which was a great response.
We recognise that this probably does not result in the very worst playgrounds in London being nominated or voted ‘the saddest’. But it definitely helps us get the message out there about how important play is for children and for communities.
And the ‘winner’ of Saddest Playground is…
The ‘winner’ is – Bellingham Play Park, and the runner-up is – Grove Park Library playground (both located in Lewisham). We are offering to work with residents that nominated it and the local decision makers to see how we can change things for the better, together.
We don’t want to make it about shaming councils or housing providers that are responsible for most of these playgrounds – rather about building understanding about how better play facilities benefit everyone, and contribute to so many of the strategic outcomes that these organisations are aiming for, and how we can make that happen.
RELATED CONTENT: Crap Playgrounds – London Mums Fighting for Better Play Spaces
What do you think are the main issues with London playgrounds and what is the best way for parents to get involved to create safer more engaging play spaces in their areas?
London has some great playgrounds but provision is really extremely patchy. This is at least partly because – unlike in Wales, and more recently in Scotland – there is actually no statutory duty on public authorities in England to provide sufficient play opportunities for residents – so when funds are tight, play is often an early casualty. A survey we carried out last year showed that most local authority budgets for upkeep and maintenance of local play areas are static or falling, almost guaranteeing a future of neglect.
The built environment generally is hostile to children. Even when there is a playground within walking distance, it may be difficult for a child to get there independently.
As for parental involvement, London Play’s view is ultimately that it shouldn’t have to be up to parents to fight for what is actually a universal human right for children, enshrined in the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. In those areas that are least well served in terms of play, families are often struggling even to put food on the table; they simply don’t have the time or energy to take the challenge on. And they shouldn’t have to!
But for those who do have the capacity, they need to make sure their council knows that they care. Rally other local people and use all the democratic options open to you to challenge the council or decision maker about the state of play. London Play is developing resources to help people make the case more effectively.
Please share some good news – what progress have you seen with London playgrounds recently and how did it come about?
The crème de la crème of London’s playgrounds are its 72 adventure playgrounds, tucked away in some of the capital’s most densely populated neighbourhoods. These are unique magical places, staffed by playworkers who are skilled in the art of letting children take the lead. Here children are free to challenge themselves: climb, swing, build, destroy, dress up, sing. They can be loud or quiet, be creative, make a fire, get messy, make lifelong friends. See our dedicated website on adventure playgrounds.
London Play runs an annual adventure play awards and in October the 2023 Adventure Playground of the Year was won by Hackney’s Shakespeare Walk Adventure Playground. Read the announcement here.
Entries are in the form of films, made by children, which you can watch here.
RELATED CONTENT: Best Adventure Playgrounds in London Picked by a Passionate Playworker
Follow London Play here: website / Instagram / Twitter / Facebook / YouTube
Featured image of post is of Bellingham Play Park. Images provided by London Play.
