London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Wednesday, Sep 03, 2025

‘It’s heartbreaking’: adventure playgrounds disappearing across England

‘It’s heartbreaking’: adventure playgrounds disappearing across England

Figures from Play England show at least 21 adventure playgrounds have been lost since 2017

“I like everything here but that swing makes me feel sick.” Leire, seven, has a smile on her face as she pushes her friends Romeo and Gabriel. Despite the cold the three of them have hurried straight to the Grove adventure playground in their school uniforms to start playing.

Walk down a quiet back street in Brixton, south London, and the Grove adventure playground appears on the grey skyline as a riot of red, yellow and blue. “When a child walks in they know they are somewhere special,” says Nick Lewis, who helped save the playground from closure a few years ago.

Here, children – some of whom may live in flats with little or no outside space – can climb rickety wooden towers, light fires in the communal fire pit and jump in puddles.

But although the doors are open, a “Save our Playground” sign hangs in the trees. The Grove is clinging to survival, its constant struggle for funding part of a wider crisis for adventure play, an energetic philosophy born in the years that followed the second world war and inspired by activists who saw how happily children played on bomb sites.

“This is a space for play,” says play lead Ashlee Aderele. “We connect children here with nature but they don’t even notice – it’s just here in every corner – the fire, the mud, the wood – they are part of it without noticing because they are playing.

“But there isn’t any funding just for having fun. We can get funding from Lambeth council for projects like food for the kids, or for providing sessions for children with special needs, and we are surviving but there is very little money just for play.”

Ashlee Aderele at the Grove adventure playground.


Figures from Play England given exclusively to the Guardian show that at least 21 adventure playgrounds have been lost across England since 2017. Their research found 126 sites that matched the description of staffed outdoor play, free for children to attend. This is down from 147 in 2017. Many more have lost direct council funding or have severely reduced their hours or staffing levels.

In Crawley, East Sussex, they have closed all four of the town’s adventure playgrounds, despite a local campaign to save them. “It’s heartbreaking,” says playworker and photographer Jeff Pitcher, who was involved in the campaign, but was made redundant when the playgrounds closed. “I went over today to look through the fence at one, Creasys Drive. The play equipment – which only needed minor repairs – has been removed and it’s just a locked expanse of land now.”

Pitcher says children need the spaces more than ever. “These playgrounds were built as part of Crawley’s ‘new town’ dream back in the 60s. They were pockets of refuge, where kids could learn how to rub along together and play healthily outdoors. Last summer, in their final days we had 300 families a day across the two most popular sites.”

Gabriel, 10, a regular at Grove adventure playground.


The Guardian spoke to local parents who say the playgrounds are a huge loss. The council says it has “mothballed” two of the sites “pending investigation into future use” and insists they had reached the end of their lives. The two other sites will open as “fixed, unsupervised” play areas later this year.

Crawley council argues that the playgrounds were expensive, at around £30 per head, by the time they closed; a figure Pitcher denies.

Anita Grant, the head of Play England, says static playgrounds cannot replace the magic of well-run adventure playgrounds.

“The loss of 21 adventure playgrounds is 15% of provision, a significant and worrying trend away from the hope that the Blair government generated with its generous play funding in the early 21st century.

“These just can’t be compared to ‘fixed’ playgrounds in parks; they are community spaces where thoughtful staff help children engage with nature and play with other children of different ages – an experience we are losing in wider society.”

Other local authorities are facing difficult decisions as budgets are cut. In Lewisham, Oxford, Bath, Southampton and Southwark, Play England notes closures or reduced services.

There are models of good practice. In Islington, Grant runs six thriving adventure playgrounds with a 15-year funding commitment from the council. The first was started by local mothers in the 50s.

Grove adventure playground.


At the Grove, occasional grants from charities keep them alive, in particular paying staffing costs. At the heart of the playground is a philosophy of healthy risk. A comical plaque honours a spot where a child broke a bone playing.

Aderele watches as Romeo and Gabriel get ready to jump.

“That swing often worries them. I take it very slowly. I say: ‘Come on, I’ll hold you.’ The progression to jumping from higher points might take weeks. They are so proud, they say: ‘Oh, can I bring my mum in to see how high I climbed?’ It’s really fun helping children face their fears in the outdoors. I have a job where I just play all the time.”

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Google Avoids Break-Up in U.S. Antitrust Case as Stocks Rise
Couple celebrates 80th wedding anniversary at assisted living facility in Lancaster
Information Warfare in the Age of AI: How Language Models Become Targets and Tools
The White House on LinkedIn Has Changed Their Profile Picture to Donald Trump
"Insulted the Prophet Muhammad": Woman Burned Alive by Angry Mob in Niger State, Nigeria
Trump Responds to Death Rumors – Announces 'Missile City'
Court of Appeal Allows Asylum Seekers to Remain at Essex Hotel Amid Local Tax Boycott Threats
Germany in Turmoil: Ukrainian Teenage Girl Pushed to Death by Illegal Iraqi Migrant
United Krack down on human rights: Graham Linehan Arrested at Heathrow Over Three X Posts, Hospitalised, Released on Bail with Posting Ban
Asian and Middle Eastern Investors Avoid US Markets
Ray Dalio Warns of US Shift to Autocracy
Eurozone Inflation Rises to 2.1% in August
Russia and China Sign New Gas Pipeline Deal
China's Robotics Industry Fuels Export Surge
Suntory Chairman Resigns After Police Probe
Gold Price Hits New All-Time Record
Von der Leyen's Plane Hit by Suspected Russian GPS Interference in an Incident Believed to Be Caused by Russia or by Pro-Peace or by Anti-Corruption European Activists
UK Fintechs Explore Buying US Banks
Greece Suspends 5% of Schools as Birth Rate Drops
Apollo to Launch $5 Billion Sports Investment Vehicle
Bolsonaro Trial Nears Close Amid US-Brazil Tension
European Banks Push for Lower Cross-Border Barriers
Poland's Offshore Wind Sector Attracts Investors
Nvidia Reveals: Two Mystery Customers Account for About 40% of Revenue
Woody Allen: "I Would Be Happy to Direct Trump Again in a Film"
Pickles are the latest craze among Generation Z in the United States.
Deadline Day Delivers Record £125m Isak Move and Donnarumma to City
Nestlé Removes CEO Laurent Freixe Following Undisclosed Relationship with Subordinate
Giuliani Seriously Injured in Accident – Trump to Award Him the Presidential Medal of Freedom
EU is getting aggressive: Four AfD Candidates Die Unexpectedly Ahead of North Rhine-Westphalia Local Elections
Lula and Putin Hold Strategic BRICS Discussions Ahead of Trump–Putin Summit
WhatsApp is rolling out a feature that looks a lot like Telegram.
Investigations Reveal Rise in ‘Sex-for-Rent’ Listings Across Canada Exploiting Vulnerable Tenants
Chinese and Indian Leaders Pursue Amity Amid Global Shifts
European Union Plans for Ukraine Deployment
ECB Warns Against Inflation Complacency
Concerns Over North Cyprus Casino Development
Shipping Companies Look Beyond Chinese Finance
Rural Exodus Fueling European Wildfires
China Hosts Major Security Meeting
Chinese Police Successfully Recover Family's Savings from Livestream Purchases
Germany Marks a Decade Since Migrant Wave with Divisions, Success Stories, and Political Shifts
Liverpool Defeat Arsenal 1–0 with Szoboszlai Free-Kick to Stay Top of Premier League
Prince Harry and King Charles to Meet in First Reunion After 20 Months
Chinese Stock Market Rally Fueled by Domestic Investors
Israeli Airstrike in Yemen Kills Houthi Prime Minister
Ukrainian Nationalist Politician Andriy Parubiy Assassinated in Lviv
Corporate America Cuts Middle Management as Bosses Take On Triple the Workload
Parents Sue OpenAI After Teen’s Death, Alleging ChatGPT Encouraged Suicide
Amazon Faces Lawsuit Over 'Buy' Label on Digital Streaming Content
×