Bryer Road Environmental Group celebrated the opening of their new natural play area in style by throwing a fun filled launch event. The group’s facilitator, David Hammond, reflects on how the play area has been transformed.
The hard work by the Bryer Road Environmental Group (BEG) in Prescot, Knowsley, has been rewarded this month with the launch of a natural play area which brings the beach to the centre of Prescot.
The natural play area is the third and final phase of a landscape master plan created back in 2001 with the help of local Groundwork Trust, Groundwork Merseyside.
A Surestart-funded children’s playground was the first phase of the project, sited behind the Bryer Road Community Centre. A community garden & outdoor education area (used regularly by the children of nearby St Mary and St Pauls schools) was phase two.
The natural play area – paid for with £35,000 of Community Spaces funding – is the third and most ambitious phase of the project. It provides a range of challenging and fun equipment for both young and older children, including a wooden climbing frame, a tunnel, lookout post and boulder slope. Rather than rubber or wood chip, the surface under the climbing frame is play sand, which is proving a hit with the local children.
Parents and tired children can enjoy taking a break on some very special benches. Carved from solid logs with a chainsaw, the benches feature an array of wildlife. Woodlice and centipedes crawl across the surface and a mole, dormouse and owl are just some of the creatures that peer out of the timber.
At the launch event, the face painting was as popular as ever. And so a parade of young vampires, superheroes and animals enjoyed herb planting with the charity Landlife (based at the nearby National Wildflower Centre), jewellery making and a bouncy castle. The mayors of Whiston and Prescot both visited to be shown around the play area by the BEG members.
Local residents enjoying the sunshine thought the new play area was fantastic. One lady said ‘It’s like bringing the beach into Prescot. We will bring buckets and spades and stay all day.’
To see the fantastic photos from the launch event, visit our Flickr page.
