Do you think disabled children should get to play in their local playground?

Tori_Scope

I do too.

Did you know?

• Half of families with disabled children face accessibility problems with their local playground.
• An alarming one in ten said their disabled child hurt themselves because of inaccessible equipment.
• One in six said their disabled child felt upset and disappointed because they couldn’t enjoy their local playground.

Want to do something about it?

Councillors are responsible for local playgrounds, so it’s vital that they commit to ensuring the playgrounds in their area are inclusive and accessible.

This would mean that disabled children would get to play too. Showing all children from a young age that an inclusive world is possible.

Email your councillors today to ask them to support disabled children’s right to play.

Your local councillor will be invited to speak to us about how to ensure their local community has accessible and inclusive parks.

Tori_Scope

@Sandy_123 this is the post  

rustledjimm

I'm wondering how much of this is from playgrounds that are just so old at this point, before designing things to be accessible was a common consideration.

This is anecdotal but I can't remember the last time I saw a new playground or heard/read a planning application for a new playground/play area. It seems since local government budgets have been slashed in the past decade playgrounds are one of the "non-essentials" that have gone out the window to keep essential services running.

Of course playgrounds should be accessible, and local governments should have enough funding to be able to provide these to their residents.

Tori_Scope

Those really good points @rustledjimm! 

We've spoken to lots of people during this campaign who've mentioned that badly maintained, outdated playgrounds are a big issue. Playgrounds haven't been designed with disabled children or a universal design approach in mind. This isn't the way it should be. 

You're right that funding can also be an big barrier. Last year, we called on the Government to introduce an inclusive playground fund (Scope website) to help with this. We're still pushing for this fund, but are focussing on a more local approach this year as the fund is a long term aim. We're looking at how we can support individuals, groups, councillors, and councils to make a difference in their area. 

We'll be releasing some guidance next month that'll cover how you can influence your local decision makers on accessible playgrounds. It'll include information on different funding landscapes. But here are some ideas in the meantime:

Sometimes if plans can be made for a playground by a community with support from the council, communities can fundraise for it themselves through crowdfunding or events.

Some national funders, like the National Lottery or People's Postcode Lottery Trusts, can also offer grants for things like playground renovation. As can local organisations and companies.

There's sometimes money available under section 106 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990, too. You can ask housing developers to contribute towards the cost of playgrounds if there's a need for one as a result of the new development. 

Councillors have pots of money they can use to fund community projects as well.

Thanks for your interest in the campaign! I hope the above information is helpful  

forgoodnesssake

I wish it was just because of old playgrounds...but it isn't.  I've seen new installations (cos I always look now even though my son is now 25!) that have next to nothing apart from maybe a net nest swing.

My son is now bit old for the swings...but when he was younger I was involved locally with trying to get more accessible equipment, and it was a hard slog even though in the early to mid 2000's most companies were selling at least some "accessible" stuff.  But I remember a heated exchange with one of the big european companies (fairly sure it was Kompan) who were tendering for the local project I was involved with and I was challenging their stated claim that all their stuff was accessible to all children! 

So blatantly untrue but they flatly refused to acknowledge  that some kids would have a bit of a problem with, say, a cargo net as the only way to get up a slide, and so on!

The other thing that happened then and I still see now is the very good, in principle, big plastic accessible swing seat that has a big y shaped plastic harness that also goes between the kids legs.  This is designed to take medium to large kids or even adults but they are almost always hung in the infant swing section...so the chains are really short giving almost no swing at all to a larger body but more dangerously they are too close to the ground for longer legs and so there is a very real danger of broken ankles or worse.

I had to actually complain about this at Grizedale Forest park some years ago when they thought they'd done a great thing by getting one of these swings but actually there was no way my son could use it as it was impossible for him to stop his feet crashing into the ground!  They didn't really get it...

Tori_Scope

Absolutely @forgoodnesssake, there's a long way to go! It's a real shame that playgrounds, whether new or old, aren't designed with disabled people in mind. I'm sorry to hear that you had those negative experiences with your son. 

There can definitely be a gap in understanding in what 'accessible' means, and some companies will unfortunately label equipment as accessible when it's not. 

It seems like you've already done quite a bit of campaigning in this area, and that it's something you feel strongly about. Do you think you might like to get involved with our campaigning on this? We're keen to empower our campaigners to make a real change in their local community, in whatever way works for them

rustledjimm

I admit most of my 'local campaigning' is around cycling and walking infrastructure, but I will take the time to read up on this and see what there is in my local area. I do not have children nor have any plans to but it's an important topic that seems to not have many advocates.

forgoodnesssake

Sorry @Tori_Scope but I've had to move on now that my son is an adult with CP, and all that entails!  Actually involved with another Scope thing atm, and trying to be involved with another!

Tori_Scope

No problem @forgoodnesssake! That's completely understandable. I hope the other two projects go well. Thanks for your continued support

Tori_Scope

That work around cycling and walking infrastructure sounds interesting @rustledjimm. Would you feel comfortable sharing more about that? I always enjoy hearing about what people are campaigning for in their local communities! 

That sounds good You'll have the opportunity to audit your local playgrounds from lated this month, and we'll also be publishing some guidance on how to influence your local decision makers on this issue. So you might find those helpful as well? 

Sandy_123

Hi @Tori_Scope is it the councillors name and address of the form  also once you've filled it in what do you do with it as there is there is nothing to press send unless it's me 

Tori_Scope

You should enter your own details on the form on the front page @Sandy_123 Our system should then automatically identify who your councillors are. 

The second page should give you the opportunity to add a personal comment to your email if you'd like to. Whether or not you've added one, you should click 'add this to my email'. 

It'll then take you through to the page where you can review your emails. At the bottom of that page, there should be a button that says 'email my councillors'. Can you see that? 

Sandy_123

Ahh ok I'll try again . Was discussing this in the park just now with some people I met for a chat and they were very interested but said they wernt aware of any campaigns about it and had never heard of it before.  Then I thought, be good to give people leaflets in parks to raise awarness, I would do that. 
Filled in the email to councillors 

rustledjimm

Tori_Scope

It's mostly going to council meetings and trying to advocate for better walking and cycling infrastructure.

It's a touch difficult because as soon as you say the words someone else will inevitably started shouting about how hard motorists have it, how you'll just cause more traffic etc. etc. The logic that if people had more choice than having to drive maybe there would be less cars to cause traffic doesn't tend to reach them.

Then you have the recent surge of 15 minute city conspiracy theorists, any suggestion of pedestrianising a road, making a road one-way or simply adding a cycle path will have someone spouting nonesense.

It's quite tiring, I previously lived in a relatively new town built in the 90s. I could walk or cycle anywhere in the town and feel pretty safe in doing so. My current town was mostly built in the 19th and 20th centuries with the very centre being even older. The town centre was not built for cars and even with a 1 way system in place the pavement from the town centre to the railway station gets thin enough a wheelchair would have to dismount onto the road to keep going. Never mind wheelchairs it's just not safe to walk down either, with cars going over the speed limit within a foot of you.

It's a rather frustrating task.