SHAKESPEARE WALK ADVENTURE PLAYGROUND
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Mission Statement
Our mission is to allow children and young people to play as naturally as possible, that is free to try things out, experiment and build resilience which are all crucial building blocks for growth and development. We do this by creating a safe, collaborative and fun space to make mistakes, learn through trial and error, and build healthy risk-taking skills that will empower young people to manage situations in the future. Our mission includes asking all trustees and staff to work within the Play Principles and relevant legislation.
About This Cause
For over 45 years, Shakespeare Walk Adventure Playground, an independently run and beloved charity, offers unaccompanied 6-16 year olds a free, safe space to experience outdoor physical play including healthy risk taking, and childcare for their parents and carers. SWAPA’s community is uniquely diverse, bringing together children situated at the intersection of one of the most deprived areas of Hackney and one of its wealthiest. Where many organisations struggle to reach a diversity of children and families, SWAPA is a MAGNET because we provide the best play experiences, and once kids find us, they don’t ever want to leave. Our ethos is child-centric and our staff use a minimum intervention approach to turn young people's ideas for play, design, creativity and community into reality. We have massive wooden play sculptures for peak swinging and climbing experiences, slides and a huge sandpit, a skateboard ramp, music production studio, full kitchen and regular bonfires in our fire pit. We won Best Adventure Playground in London 2023. Our 2023 stats: 588 unique young people, 3700 visits total; free hot lunches served - 60% to young people on free school meals. We hosted 4 community open days throughout the year, each event attracting 150+ young people, parents, carers and members of our community. We are also specialists in neurodiversity - we facilitate inclusion, lateral thinking, healthy risk taking but also feeling safe in your own identity, exploring freely and with agency. One of our trustees is a specialist/coach for neurodiversity including ADHD. As needed we use therapeutic techniques such as fireside chats, teaching kids how to use tools and build structures and expression through art and making. An example of our approach - introduced Break Stuff club in June 2022 when one of young people told one of our playworkers that they wanted to break something. The playworker gave her a hammer and some breeze blocks and let her bash it out... and then all the other kids wanted to join in and Break Stuff club was born. The kids then use fragments of breeze block to carve shapes and sculptures, which we call Make Stuff club :) We see ourselves as community builders and work with local primary and secondary schools, youth clubs, young offenders via the community payback scheme and PRU partnerships.