We want the sound of children’s laughter to continue to be heard in our popular fishing village of Beadnell on the North Northumberland coast. The community and Parish Council are jointly raising £150,000 to renovate our much-loved and much-used playground. We hope that at least 10% of that will come through crowdfunding.
Beadnell School closed in 1984, but its sports field, donated by a local farmer, remained as a play area. In 2007 we raised money and installed a range of play equipment. Most had wooden frames and, due to the local climate, weekly safety inspections are telling us the larger items must soon be replaced. This time we will invest in more sustainable materials with a lifetime guarantee. We spent last summer consulting 100+ children and families: they told us they wanted more activities for toddlers and the older children said they want more ‘risk’. Having asked families to consider 3 different designs we are confident the new playground will deliver their wishes. In addition we want the needs of children of all abilities to be better catered for.
Children, parents, grandparents, relatives, visitors, local businesses, their employees & the local economy will all benefit from the refurbished playground. If we do nothing the playground equipment will have to be taken out of service as individual items become less safe. There are no other similar or alternative facilities in the village for all children to use.
There are 771 houses in the Parish but only a third are occupied permanently. Our resident children can feel isolated in our beautiful rural area. Their schools are 3 & 14 miles away and public transport is poor. However Beadnell comes alive from Easter to late Autumn with the population growing ten-fold due to day visitors, tourists and families with long-term connections to the area. The playground is the only place in the village where children of different backgrounds can safely meet & play together, develop social skills & become more confident. It’s also a place for parents & grandparents, residents of neighboring villages and hamlets, visitors & families on holiday to congregate and meet each other.
Our aim is to make the playground a sustainable beacon of connection and community.
Here is a taste of the new equipment we hope to install
