QWD – playground repairs

Our natural woodland playground is over ten years old. Whilst our volunteers have been doing regular maintenance and small repairs in this time, it now needs more major repairs for health and safety and to keep all the equipment open and usable. Funding would be used for a qualified external contractor to do the more technical repairs, buying a new layer of bark chippings for the ground, and some volunteer and staff time to carry out the smaller works.

Around 200,000 visitors in total visit Queenswood Country Park each year. We know from previous visitor engagement surveys that 75% of peak-time visitors come with children and almost 13% of all visitors use the playground each time they visit. Families like the playground to entertain children while they catch up with friends and family, and often take a walk around the park following the Gruffalo Trail at the same time.

The playground provides an important space for children of a wide range of ages – from toddlers to tweens – to have fun outside in a nature-based environment, be physically active, and to socialise with other children. We want to keep people – especially children – coming to Queenswood as it’s a great way to start connecting to nature, spotting wildlife and learning to take care of the environment.