Breaking Ground for Playscape Satisfying progress was made for the Playscape project last month when the PC got the crucial Feast Services underway. This great step forward was, however, rather dampened by the discovery of extensive asbestos in the ground and the accompanying costs of dealing with it. You can read more fully about the…

Playscape: On the ground

Playscape: FAQs Want to know what the team’s currently doing or what we mean by “inclusive”? Or how about what we think it’s all going to cost? Thought you might… Well we’ve put together a new FAQs page to keep you informed and in the know. Have a read and let us know what you…

Playscape: Happy New Year! Thank you for all of your support in 2018. It was great to see so many of you at the Lights Switch on too, although we will definitely be buying A LOT more wine next year – sorry to those at the back of the queue when we sold out! Wonderfully…

Shelter Design Competition This Shelter is not the prettiest and until some new wooden seats were installed, it wasn’t very comfortable either! However, we think we can give it a new lease of life: Nestled next to the future basketball & football practice area, with some quirky new companions (the old horse and roundabout will…

Shelford Fun Run raises another £5000 for Playscape! We were delighted that Day Accountants agreed to sponsor chip timing for the Fun Run this year. It was, however, touch and go on the day whether we’d get the chips as they went to Shelford… Nottingham! Fortunately the roads were clear and the participants very understanding….

National News: Children’s access to parkland affects their spacial working memory The Times quoted Eirini Flouri, of University College London: “Our findings suggest a positive role of green space in cognitive functioning. Spatial working memory is an important cognitive ability that is strongly related with academic achievement in children, particularly mathematics performance,” The New York…

Playscape – A Community Effort We were doubly blessed by the American visitors to the Free Church last month. They raised £81 for Playscape with a car wash and then helped us to weed and water the three new trees in the meadow and the new hedge. Not a mean feat considering the distance to…

Playscape plans have been granted planning permission! This is a great milestone for the project. Erect Architecture can now start on the technical drawings, which in turn will allow us to go out to tender (a pre-requisite for most grants) in the not too distant future. Now we need the rest of the funds to…

Playscape – Important for Everyone? We spent a glorious day on the beach last month and I was reminded just how engaging the natural world is for children. We know in our hearts we feel better from being outside and research shows that it is crucial for physical and mental well-being too. George Monbiot nicely…