Children living on Islington’s Andover Estate are enjoying a new outdoor play space that includes swings, a climbing frame and new planting.
Where previously young residents on the estate were used to concrete and worn out play equipment, there are now new swings, a climbing frame with a special slide and a springy seesaw. A landscaped area with a bright coloured surface and rocks for children to play on has also been developed.
The exciting new play area on Mingard Walk lies on the estate in N4 and has been completely redeveloped with over £98,000 of investment as part of Islington Council’s Playbuilder programme.
An event to celebrate the opening was held on Saturday 25 April, with face painting and Islington’s Playrangers on hand to provide a range of fun play activities. Children and young people also got involved in planting some new shrubs.
Islington Council’s Head of Positive Activities, Wendy Bristow said:
“It’s fantastic to see so many young people enjoying this great new space. The Andover Estate has over 3,500 residents and this includes a lot of children who until now, have had very limited access to an attractive, outside space to spend time in."
"Islington Council are redeveloping 22 play sites across the borough over the next three years to provide the type of safe, exciting, open spaces that young people in Islington deserve to have access to. This is especially important for estates like Andover, which is located in one of the most deprived wards in the borough.”
Funding for the new play area has come from Playbuilder, The Big Lottery and Homes for Islington (HfI) and the playground was delivered by Groundwork London, HfI and the Andover Tenants and Residents Association. Residents on the Andover Estate were consulted to find out what type of play area they would like to see developed on the site.
Richard Schunemann, Chair of the Andover Tenants and Residents Association said: "It makes me very happy to see so many children enjoying this new playground. It’s modern and quite different. My four year-old grandson loves the thrill of the new slide!"
The seven Islington play areas to receive investment in year one of the Playbuilder project will all be holding grand openings. Gambier House, Sussex Way Gardens and Fortune Street celebrated their new outdoor spaces earlier this month, while the remaining sites – New Orleans Walk, Rosemary Gardens and Brunswick Estate are all due to be officially opened by the end of May 2009.
Theresa Coyle, Board Director for HfI said: “The Andover estate has been undergoing major improvement works and it's great to see investment in facilities for young people as well. This will bring benefits to all the community and creates a great space for the young people in the area.”
Islington was selected by the Government in 2008 as one of the first local authorities to receive £1.173 million of Playbuilder money over three years. The money is being used to build new, or refurbish existing playgrounds and play areas across the borough.
ENDS.
Page Last Updated: 12 June 2009