Sheffield’s children need adventure and places to play
Sheffield’s children need adventure and places to play, writes Patrick Meleady, National Champion for Children's Play
For a child, an adventure playground is a place of possibility: somewhere to build a den, climb higher, make friends, get muddy and decide what happens next.
Sheffield needs more of these spaces, recognised as essential community provision and supported by the people and resources that keep them alive.
Recent reporting about playground staff fighting “tooth and nail” to remain open should concern everyone who values childhood.
Children’s opportunities should never depend on exhausted workers continually scrambling to fund wages and running costs.
Adventure play begins with children’s ideas.
Timber, sand, water, ropes and loose parts materials that invite experimentation.
Planks might become a spaceship, a shelter or something adults would never imagine.
Children shape their surroundings, discovering what they can create together.
Skilled playworkers make this freedom possible. They build relationships, maintain welcoming environments and judge when to intervene and when to step back.
Balancing challenge with care, they support manageable risks while addressing serious hazards.
Behind children’s freedom lies professional knowledge, preparation and attention.
The movement has deep roots.
A pioneering “junk playground” opened in Emdrup, Copenhagen, in 1943.
Lady Allen of Hurtwood subsequently championed the approach in Britain, promoting children’s opportunities to create, explore and play in neighbourhoods rebuilding after war.
Sheffield has a proud connection to this tradition.
Pitsmoor Adventure Playground and Highfield Adventure Playground, the latter managed by Sharrow Community Forum, connect play with neighbourhood life.
The loss of other provision over the years reminds us how easily opportunities disappear when investment falls away.
Their value extends beyond equipment.
Children practise negotiating, solving problems, handling disappointment and trying again.
A child struggling with written work might become an inventive builder; another experiencing isolation might find friendship through a shared game.
Play offers different ways to shine.
For children facing poverty, bereavement, family pressures or exclusion, a consistent welcome matters enormously.
Trusted adults and familiar spaces offer opportunities to be heard, build confidence and experience belonging.
Play also deserves protection simply because children need enjoyment, freedom and time to be themselves.
Access cannot be assumed.
Free entry means little if transport costs, busy roads, distance or limited opening hours prevent attendance.
Families need clear information about sessions, facilities, age ranges and available support.
Disabled children may encounter inaccessible entrances, unsuitable toilets, overwhelming environments or uncertainty about whether their needs will be understood.
Inclusion requires accessible design, reasonable adjustments, communication support and sufficient staff.
Children should play together, with different ways to participate and quieter spaces when needed.
Teenagers also deserve welcoming provision that respects their interests and growing independence.
Children and young people must help shape decisions.
As Yorkshire Young Co-operators remind us: “Nothing About Us Without Us.”
That principle belongs at the heart of planning for play.Sheffield Play Partnership provides an important foundation for collaboration.
Sheffield City Council’s investment in positive activities and local facilities is welcome, but central government must provide substantially greater, sustained funding for play, including staffed adventure playgrounds operating throughout the year.
Funding must cover people as well as places: wages, maintenance, insurance, utilities, training and accessibility.
New equipment cannot replace experienced playworkers.
Short grants absorb time in repeated applications and make retaining skilled staff harder.
Sughra Begum DL, High Sheriff of South Yorkshire, also recently visited The Addy, Old Quarry Adventure Playground in Knottingley, in the Wakefield district, to explore and celebrate its best practice approach.
Its work offers lessons in excellent play provision, strengthening community capacity and building community wealth.
Play spaces can bring neighbours together, support local employment, develop volunteering and connect families with wider opportunities.
Learning from The Addy should encourage Sheffield to invest in community knowledge and leadership, with children’s experiences guiding what happens next.
Government, the council, funders, businesses, schools, community organisations and residents should work together to protect existing playgrounds, identify neighbourhood gaps and develop more provision.
Secure premises, dependable core funding and practical partnerships would give projects the stability to plan.
Local fundraising and volunteering remain valuable, but communities should not repeatedly have to rescue essential services.
Every neighbourhood should join the conversation, especially families whose children currently miss out.
We must also plan for future generations, protecting land for play and ensuring new housing brings welcoming, accessible spaces where children can gather safely, explore independently and develop friendships close to home.
Sheffield’s commitment to its children becomes visible in the places it sustains for them: places where curiosity is encouraged, difference is respected and adventure remains within reach.
Our children deserve places to explore, connect, create and belong, throughout childhood and across Sheffield.