Play Equipment for Market Place

Funded on
23 Jun 2023

We want to turn Market Place Playground, a shabby but much used community resource, into a natural playground with new, inclusive and challenging play equipment.

£16,926 Raised of £14,535

171 Backers

116%

Costs

Stainless Steel Slide £6,086
Basket Swing £4,167
Climbing net £2,086
Toddler Swings £928
Target: (inc. fees) £14,535

https://friendsofmarketplace.org.uk/

Friends of Market Place Playground is a committee of six parents from East Finchley who came together in December 2020 to petition to save the playground from development.

After a successful campaign to remove the playground's rating of 'low value, low quality' we began to lobby the council to improve the declining but much needed and used facilities.

We surveyed 340 local users and learned what they wanted from an updated Market Place Playground with greenery, lots of play equipment and a welcoming environment for everyone in the community. We have worked in close collaboration with the local residents throughout the process holding engagement days, coffee mornings, presentations and events to ensure everyone - attendees have been everything from 8 weeks to 80+ years - has their say.

We are supported by seed funding from Grange Big Local (National Lottery Local Trust). We have successfully lobbied for a council commitment of £180,000 to convert the tarmac space into a natural site and this is supplemented by a Grow Back Greener Grant from the Mayor of London. We now need to fundraise for equipment, seating, planting and additional facilities so we can begin the build in November 2023 - our deadline.

Our project is sponsored by Tim Gill - author of Urban Playgriound and former director of Play England - and our consultancy and design team are Phil Doyle and Aileen Shackell - highly experienced play experts who authored the government's key document Design For Play. We now sit as a group under the charity East Finchley Community Trust.

Project Owner: East Finchley Community Trust The Project Owner takes legal responsibility for receiving and spending the funds raised and ensuring the project is delivered.