Improving our play space at Old Oak

We celebrated the reopening of our new and improved play space at Old Oak.

Published: 17/11/2022

---

We manage 220 play spaces across the areas we work in, and when they reach the end of their serviceable lives we consult with our residents and local communities and create new greener, highly play-valued spaces. As part of designing these outside spaces, we aim to make areas that are pleasant to spend time in and encourage residents to be physically and playfully active. We also encourage children to engage with nature by adding trees, planting and nesting opportunities to increase biodiversity and support local wildlife.

See the new play space at Old Oak

At the Old Oak Community and Children’s Centre, our local team runs a calendar of events and activities for children and families, many of which are hosted outside and in the playground.

One of our local parents told us: "I'm loving the work they've done on the playground, it looks really nice and my daughter loves it. All the kids love it."

Liz Connelly, our Senior Landscape Construction Manager said "We recognise how important it is for a child to have the ability to play on their doorstep and our outdoor spaces are an extension of our residents' homes. Children have a human right to play, and they know a high quality play space and they want to return."

Providing access to high quality play spaces for children to play, learn and grow is a core part of the work we do in our communities.

At the Old Oak Community and Children’s Centre in Acton in west London, we have re-designed and re-developed the outdoor play areas for local children and families. The new design was done in consultation with the local community, in particular the families who use the space, to ensure that it best suits their needs.

The enriched play space now includes sensory play options and encourages literacy development through the carved words set into the equipment. We included bespoke play structures to support a range of age groups to enjoy the new facilities. The new playspace also includes new trees, planting and habitat opportunities to increase the biodiversity of the site, and teach children to engage with the outdoors. As part of encouraging children about the natural world, we involved the local children in planting wildlife friendly flowers and painting birdboxes, and painted images of the local wildlife they might see around the play space and in the nearby scrubs.

Play, spending time outdoors and being in the natural environment is an important part of physical and mental wellbeing, especially for children and families. The majority of our play spaces are located within our estates or next to our community centres where our local teams often run activities like school holiday activities. We routinely inspect our play spaces to ensure they can be safely used and enjoyed and completed over 11,150 routine inspections last year.

To find out more about the activities and events we host at Old Oak, please contact Nicci Ayamah, Centre Co-ordinator: Nicci.Ayamah@Peabody.org.uk