Greenwich parents of disabled kids need more inclusive playgrounds

According to data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS), the Royal Borough of Greenwich was recorded to have the highest number of disabled residents in 2021, with 17.7 percent identified as being disabled.

Greenwich is home to 33 playgrounds across the borough, along with two privately owned playgrounds in Greenwich Park and the National Maritime Museum.

According to data obtained from an information request submitted to Greenwich Council, along with independent audits conducted by disability charity Scope and the News Shopper using information from Google Maps, AccessAble and other online sources, out of the 35 playgrounds in Greenwich:

• All have step-free access.
• 31 have accessible equipment, including seven with wheelchair accessible roundabouts, six dish roundabouts, sixteen basket swings, four high back swings, seven spinner bowls, three inclusive see saws, four talk tubes and sixteen play panels.
• 16 have an accessible toilet nearby.
• 12 have disabled parking nearby.

The information was based on a variety of sources using available data to create the list.

Yet some parents feel that there isn’t enough accessible play for their disabled children in Greenwich borough.

As part of our ongoing series looking into the number of accessible playgrounds in each southeast London borough, we spoke to parents at Willow Dene School in Woolwich.

The school provides support and care for children with complex needs in the Royal Borough of Greenwich aged from two to 19.

‘It’s like our children are made to feel like they don’t belong’

For parents like Kate Madaza, finding and accessing inclusive play for her son comes at a high cost.

Kate, whose son lives with ADHD, SPD and is also non-verbal, told the News Shopper that she finds Greenwich playgrounds are “not disability friendly”, with “no sensory equipment at all” to accommodate his needs.

Kate explained that often she has to drive “several miles” away from her home to use out-of-borough playgrounds like Mudchute Farm in east London.

Kate said: “There’s nothing that my son can use in the borough really, so we often drive elsewhere.

“But then we as parents are incurring costs on fuel itself and it's a cost on us that the borough's not even looking into.”

Kate added that for a lot of the time her son has “no outlet” to be able to play in the borough, often meaning that a lack of accessible play impacts her son’s wellbeing.

Kate said: “Because there's no sensory equipment at all for the children, for us to access, even just to have play things for our kids, whether we're paying for it, we have to go out of borough.

“We bring our kids home, they're fully loaded and need some sort of release, and it’s not fair because other children who aren’t disabled can have that.

“Often I use Greenwich bandstand and let him do laps in there, but it's not sensory for him.

“Some of us have got housing issues, we've got no back garden to let them release and run out and then we are impacted by that, and we have to wait for the school, because the school will have the equipment for the kids.”

In a statement, Greenwich Council said that six of its parks had undergone a £720,000 upgrade which included play and sensory equipment that can be used by children with disabilities.

In a statement, Greenwich Council said that six of its parks had undergone a £720,000 upgrade which included play and sensory equipment that can be used by children with disabilities. (Image: Royal Borough of Greenwich)

Going forward, Kate said that she would like to see secure playgrounds for children with learning disabilities and carer accessible equipment in playgrounds in the borough, along with more disability-friendly clubs and activities during out-of-school time, that parents of disabled children “are crying out for”.

Kate explained: “The number of special needs is escalating each year. it's going up, it's not going down.

“Sometimes, it’s like our children are made not to belong and it’s just disheartening for us as parents of disabled children.”

As part of UK disability charity Scope’s Let’s Play Fair campaign launched this year, and created in a bid to highlight the “need for more accessible equipment” in playgrounds across the UK, campaigners were asked to survey local playgrounds and provide feedback on their accessibility.

In 2023, Scope launched The Play Investigation, where 1,083 Scope campaigners visited 1,004 playgrounds across the UK, including 126 playgrounds in London, to conduct surveys on how accessible they were.

Parents were asked a series of questions ranging from wheelchair access to playground security and access to nearby accessible toilets.

Two playgrounds in Greenwich were audited by playground users - Eltham Park South, which received a Green rating, and East Greenwich Pleasaunce, receiving a red rating, although both playgrounds were scored for having an enclosed space to play in by the parents who audited them.

‘It’s honestly safer to take my son to a forest where he can run rather thana playground’

For some parents like Paula Harrod, whose son has a number of conditions including ASD, ADHD, PDA, pica and development issues, Greenwich playgrounds are just often “not secure enough” for her to visit with her son.

Paula, who lives in Woolwich, said that a lot of local parks don’t have accessible or “well-maintained” equipment, with some “being used like the local dog chew toy”.

Paula said: “I just go to the forest now, because it's a place I can let go of his hand and he's safe, it's a place I feel like he's safe to actually run around and enjoy himself.”

Paula explained that her son requires the use of accessible basket swings due to his inability to hold onto regular swings, which she struggles to find in the borough.

Paula explained that her son requires the use of accessible basket swings due to his inability to hold onto regular swings. (Image: Royal Borough of Greenwich)

As a result, the mum-of-three said she often drives to Shorne Country Park in Kent, over 20 miles from her home, to give her son the vital play experience he needs.

Paula said: “Swings are really important for me, but my son can’t use the baby swings because of his size or the regular swings because he can’t hold on.

“Personally, I can only think of two local parks that have equipment, but if I go and there’s another child using them my son can get bored where he can’t use anything else.

“So if you don't have the teddy bear swing with the harness, then it makes it more difficult for myself, you see, so lifting him is heavy.”

In 2023, Greenwich Council announced a £1 million revamp of 11 of its parks following a consultation with residents.

This involved a £135,000 revamp to Charlton Park with improvement work to the pathways, the addition of new playground equipment and the addition of a new disabled toilet.

However, Paula claimed that the improvements didn’t “offer enough” for disabled children like her son.

Paula said: “Greenwich Council was given a big budget about two years ago to improve parks, including Charlton Park.

“But all they did was work on the retaining wall, but there isn't actually any equipment being put in that's accessible for children, which it should have been.”

‘My son’s a wheelchair user – and he can’t enjoy parks like other children’

For parents like Gemma Pinto, whose 12-year-old son is a wheelchair user with cerebral palsy, the impact of having a lack of accessible play can be isolating.

Gemma’s son, who is a full-time wheelchair user, requires accessible wheelchair equipment to be able to play, something she said she struggles to find in the borough.

Gemma said: “My son is in a wheelchair since he was three, and for years we've never been able to really enjoy the park.

“While he was small, it was easy to put him on those big round swings.

“My son started having realisations when he was about five, he started noticing the difference.

“Even now he looks at himself and he does look at the other children, because he's wishing he could do those things.”

Gemma added that often her family brings equipment such as a hoist to enable her son to use equipment.

In June 2022, the Royal Borough of Greenwich announced plans to revamp six of its playgrounds, including Abbey Wood Park and Horn Park, with plans to add accessible equipment including disability-friendly roundabouts that can be used by wheelchair users.

In June 2022, the Royal Borough of Greenwich announced plans to revamp six of its playgrounds. (Image: Royal Borough of Greenwich)

‘Parks need to be more accessible so my visually impaired daughter can be independent’

For parents of visually impaired children in Greenwich like Sarah Dugdale, parks can be a struggle for her daughter to access independently.

Sarah’s daughter is visually impaired due to Nystagmus and also has mobility issues, and is currently awaiting an autism diagnosis.

Due to her disability, her daughter has difficulty balancing while walking on uneven paths, and climbing on frames is difficult without the aid of Sarah.

Sarah explained: “Because my daughter is visually impaired she finds it difficult to see where she’s walking and can fall over with her mobility.

“So with things like climbing frames, they're very odd steps to get up onto.

“She can’t use a normal ladder, as she wouldn't be able to go up, and so she would need stairs or handrails, but there aren’t many climbing frames in the borough with them.

“If there's an uneven pathway, I'm always having to walk with her and she gets frustrated because she wants to walk on her own and be independent.

“She just wants to join in and as parents we want our children to feel part of the community.”

The Royal Borough of Greenwich confirmed that 27 of its parks had step-free access, with the addition of accessible equipment such as roundabouts and seesaws.

The Royal Borough of Greenwich confirmed that 27 of its parks had step-free access. (Image: Royal Borough of Greenwich)

‘Playgrounds are the only outlet for our disabled children’

For parents of children with multiple cognitive disabilities like Marie O Connor, playgrounds are often “the only outlet” for children to be able to play and have enrichment.

Marie’s son has ADHD, ASD and developmental delays, and having access to spaces to exercise and use play equipment is instrumental for his mental health.

Marie said: “With all the cuts to short breaks and funding and everything, a lot of the playgrounds are our only outlet for our children.

“So when it's not available and it's not there, it's having a detrimental effect on our mental health, because we are not getting any break whatsoever at this stage.

“I'm physically at the end of my line, because I can't even bring my son anywhere at the moment that is safe.”

Final conclusions

12 parents took part in a discussion panel, where they were asked a series of questions about their experiences finding and using playgrounds in Greenwich with their disabled children.

When asked about their experiences:

• Eight out of 12 parents have to travel out of borough to use a playground on a regular basis.
• 10 out of 12 parents would say they have to spend more money to get to a playground that's accessible on a weekly basis.
• 12 parents would say that they wouldn't use their local park because it's not accessible.
• 11 out of 12 parents would say that if their playgrounds were more accessible near them, they would take their child to the playground more on a regular basis.

In a discussion panel, all 12 parents said that they wouldn't use their local park because it's not accessible. (Image: Royal Borough of Greenwich)

In a statement, Greenwich Council said that it was “committed” to ensuring the borough had “welcoming and inclusive” places for disabled children and encouraged any parents of disabled children with comments or concerns to contact them.

A spokesperson said: "We’re committed to ensuring Royal Greenwich is a welcoming and inclusive place and to helping children and young people to reach their full potential.

“As such we’ve recently invested £1 million into our parks, improving the accessible equipment available at six of our playgrounds. We provided an additional £720,000 to upgrade a further six playgrounds across the borough with play and sensory equipment that can be used by children with disabilities.

“£135,000 of this investment was used to improve Charlton Park’s playground and install an accessible toilet in the sports pavilion. Repairs to the park's listed wall were funded by a separate budget.

“All 27 Council run park playgrounds in the borough have step free access, and many of them also offer some accessible equipment such as roundabouts, basket and high back swings, seesaws designed for easy transfer from a wheelchair and sensory play panels.

"Through Young Greenwich, our youth support programme, we also offer children and young people from 5 to 19, and up to 25 for people with SEND, free or affordable activities in the community all year round.

“Additionally, we provide short break activities to eligible children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities. We have not reduced the short breaks budget and in 2024/25 there was additional one-off investment from the Department for Education.

“You can find full details of services, support and activities available for children and young people with special educational needs at royalgreenwich.gov.uk/send-offer.

“Any queries or feedback regarding our park playgrounds can be shared with our Parks team at parks@royalgreenwich.gov.uk.”