YOUR FORUM FOR PLAY, SPORTS UND LEISURE AREAS
Wakefield Council has worked with Upton based play experts Sutcliffe Play to design a new £70,000 playground in Airedale as part of a scheme that tackles obesity by providing outdoor facilities that encourage and support physical activity.
The Council secured over £70,000 from the NHS Wakefield District Change4Life Three Areas Project grant initiative for the new playground after Airedale was identified by NHS Wakefield District as one of the top three priority areas with particularly high levels of overweight and obese children.
Redhill Drive Recreation Ground was officially opened on Tuesday 12 February by children from Airedale Academy and Cllr Yvonne Crewe, Wakefield Council’s cabinet member for the Environment and Communities. The new play area will encourage local children to increase levels of physical activity and enjoy a healthier lifestyle.
The playground features innovative equipment from Sutcliffe Play including the Council’s first outdoor Parkour structure. Parkour or free running is growing in popularity across the UK and encourages play opportunities such as vaulting and balancing.
Sutcliffe Play’s exhilarating play system Mission has also been installed. Mission is designed to offer challenging physical play opportunities to help keep children fit and active. The fully modular system complements the Parkour range and includes ropes, nets, platforms and springboards to encourage climbing, traversing and descending in unique ways for high energy invigorating play.
The design of the play area is based on extensive consultation with young people and residents through focus groups and door to door surveys at over 700 homes within a 10 minute walk of the play area.
(www.sutcliffeplay.co.uk)
