Parents were left with limited childcare options when a charity play area was forced to close due to electrical difficulties.
Shakespeare Walk Adventure Playground in Stoke Newington had to turn families away at the gate on 26 October when a mains wire reportedly “fried”.
The play area is a free and safe space where parents can leave children from six to 16 to play. Senior Playworker, Gemma Reid said: “For some families, us [the adventure playground] being closed was a massive struggle.”
Children get to play in a way as “unrestricted and unobserved as possible,” due to its open access setting, says Gemma. Staff are present but, according to Gemma, view their role as “facilitators” of a more “dynamic kind of play” rather than supervisors.
During school holidays, children are usually provided with free hot meals four days of the week and are encouraged to make food themselves when they are hungry.
“It’s a really beautiful thing [to see] children just playing outdoors,” said Gemma, particularly for families in the area with little outside space.
She described how parents had to “negotiate” alternative care arrangements for their children whilst the playground was closed: “When you have children you trust, it gives you the freedom to…know they will be okay.”
The playground, which reopened to families on 3 November at 3pm, will be celebrating its 45th anniversary with a bonfire party on Saturday 6 November at 1pm.
