Background
The Kennedy Leigh Children and Family Centre in
Hendon, North London provides a wide range of services
for children and young people including children with
learning disabilities, special educational needs and
disadvantaged children and their families who come from
a diverse range of backgrounds and faiths. Over the
years thousands of children have benefited from these
services including the use of an adventure playground.

Built in 1990, the playground’s age finally caught up
with it and in 2008 the equipment failed its safety
inspection and became no longer EU compliant. The
only option was to close the playground as unfit for
use and fence it off. The impact of the closure has been
huge and it has been most acutely felt by the special
needs and learning disabilities children some of whom
have complex and profound needs and require one to
one support. For them outdoor play is a very important
element of the service.

A New Adventure Playground
To replace the old playground is a costly business.
Much needs to be done to create a special adventure
area that meets all the health and safety standards
including:
• installation of a specialised rubber safety surface
• landscaping around the area
• the reorganization of the space for wheelchair users
• installation of wheelchair accessible multi activity
units including climbing frames and play zones

The costs of the project from design to
implementation will be £65,483. This includes
all materials, equipment and labour.