Aim

To create paid roles for local people who can use their skills to develop ways of making money to sustain the future of Meriden APG

We are Meriden Adventure Playground Association a small local charity, based in Chelmsley Wood, Birmingham, that manages Meriden Adventure Playground and we want to use the skills and knowledge of local people, in paid roles, to improve our sustainability.

Meriden Adventure Playground Association deliver services to and involve the local community – children, young people and families.  We are based in a poor neighbourhood of high deprivation with unemployment, drugs and street violence and families with legacies of addiction and abuse.  The playground is a community hub, serving hundreds of families, with a growing community spirit and a network of untapped skills.  This project not only improves our sustainability, but playfully brings people together to tackle the issues of poverty and inequality and nurture and deepen existing resilience.

ABOUT US

Meriden Adventure Playground is the only traditional adventure playground in the Midlands and here children and young people can do all the things that tend not to be allowed or condoned elsewhere; all the things that many of us adults often did when we were kids like using proper tools to build dens and structures, lighting fires and cooking on these, climbing up on high platforms and jumping off, being noisy and being with mates.  It’s a place where kids of all ages (0-18) can come and really be themselves, something that experts in child psychiatry say is really lacking in children’s lives today as they are so over supervised and over-protected.  The children and young people that come to the playground have hard lives – many are in care, are disabled or are in families really struggling to survive because of unemployment or a legacy of abuse.   They’re often hungry and challenging, but our staff are there for them and support them in a variety of ways.   We offer healthy food for free every day, we help manage their anger and fears, we listen to them, we laugh with them, we speak up on their behalf when needed, we give them freedom and independence and help them manage that and applaud them when they do.  The playground is an amazing place where kids are not just surviving but thriving and where there is hope, help, fun and laughter.

https://www.facebook.com/pages/category/Playground/Meriden-Adventure-Playground-Chelmsley-Wood-481170621905442/

This project successfully funded on 22nd July 2020