This week marks a crucial moment for adventure playgrounds in London. While national attention and new investment signal renewed recognition for staffed play, local decisions in the capital tell a more fragile story.
Staffed adventure playgrounds provide safe, inclusive spaces where children can explore, experiment, and play under the guidance of trusted adults. These spaces are child-led, offering managed risk, creativity, friendship, and freedom – experiences that national conversations are increasingly recognising as vital for young people.
This week in Parliament, staffed adventure playgrounds will be discussed at the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Play. London Play’s APEX film will be screened, sharing children’s voices and experiences across the capital and highlighting what makes staffed adventure playgrounds uniquely valuable to young people and their communities.
Alongside the film, our APEX booklet features the voices of playworkers and children talking about the distinctive features of staffed adventure playgrounds and their wider benefits. Both resources are designed to support playgrounds in promoting themselves and the adventure play movement more broadly – providing decision makers with a clear and inspirational understanding of what staffed adventure playgrounds are and what sets them apart from standard fixed unsupervised playgrounds.
Today a new £500,000 philanthropic fund has been announced to support adventure playgrounds across the UK. London Play was involved in helping shape the fund’s focus, contributing research, case studies, and participating in discussions that helped direct support specifically toward staffed adventure playgrounds, rather than independent play more broadly. For more details, see the Adventure Playground Fund.
The situation in Greenwich highlights the ongoing fragility of local provision. On Monday 02 March 2026, the borough will scrutinise proposals to close or downgrade four of its five staffed adventure playgrounds. London Play has formally opposed these proposals and submitted evidence to the consultation. We will also apply to speak at the meeting, emphasising that these cuts would take provision backwards at a time when national policy and funding are signalling renewed attention and investment in staffed play. Full details are available on the Greenwich scrutiny committee page.
Staffed adventure playgrounds are far more than play spaces. They are environments and an ethos held by skilled playworkers – trusted adults who notice children’s needs, build long-term relationships, and often act as links to wider support services. Here, children can test limits safely, explore creativity, enjoy activity, share meals, and exercise real agency in their own communities.
Through our APEX exchange project, film, and booklet, we have documented how these spaces deliver outcomes that national strategy and funding aim to achieve and demonstrating why they are indispensable.
The national conversation is turning toward recognition and investment. Local decisions should not move in the opposite direction.
