Help us to create a habitats themed play area

At Iver Environment Centre we deliver inspiring ecology-based sessions to school pupils alongside family learning activities which connect people to nature. Our volunteering programme enables skills development whilst improving mental health & we provide specialist access to purposeful activity for adults with additional needs.

 

We would like you to help us to fundraise in order to build inclusive unique wildlife focussed play opportunities for our diverse local community. Our current play area is tired and run-down and in need of urgent refurbishment. Our online consultation during lockdown showed that people love that it feels wild and natural and is integrated into its surroundings, but hey would like more to climb and hide in.

 

 

Learning through play encourages child-initiated exploration. They take control of their learning and are motivated to involve others. The need for nature based play has never been greater, as much of our local community spent a great deal of 2020 in flats with no outdoor space due to Covid-19 restrictions. We will create a playscape that engages them with natural elements. Our play equipment will help children to understand the natural world and our place within it, which should lead to a respect for animals and plants, alongside a desire to care for the environment.

 

The site needs to remain natural and provide opportunities for physically challenging play, whilst at the same time ensuring access to all. The rest of our site is fully accessible, with level access and raised beds, so we need to ensure that our audience, (including lots of people with disabilities) are able to engage with the new play opportunities .The focus of the play area will be animal habitats, with planting on the slope near the substation creating genuine habitats for native wildlife. The new barrier with the farm will have viewing windows at different heights so children can peep through at cows and birds. The play area will include opportunities to climb, balance, swing & slide, as well as for imaginative play. Ideas that we've had include a giant birds nest with eggs that the children can climb into, a tunnel slide that burrows through the ground, instruments inspired by the striation of a grasshopper, giant honeycomb to delve into, a climbing structure modelled on a minibeast hotel and a spiders web. A variety of surfaces and ground heights offer exciting new perspectives, with trees and bushes acting as a catalyst for children’s play ideas.

 

 

Iver Environment Centre is a 30 year partnership between National Grid and The Groundwork South Trust. More information about THE GROUNDWORK SOUTH TRUST LIMITED: We work towards a future of sustainable communities which are vibrant, healthy and safe, which respect the local and global environment and where individuals and enterprise can prosper.

We have a proven track record in environmental and social regeneration providing high quality sustainable projects across the South of England.