Empowering Children, Strengthening Communities

Islington Play Association runs 5 Adventure Playgrounds in Islington: Crumbles Castle, Martin Luther King, Timbuktu, Lumpy Hill and Toffee Park. We are facing a challenging time with reductions in funding and a rise in the cost of living and we need your help to make sure these vital play services continue to deliver quality experiences to Islington’s most in need children and families.

Our sites are very special, they are staffed by playworkers and offer amazing free experiences to children growing up in Islington and have done so since the late 60’s. With a focus on outdoor adventurous play, children can play in the ways that matter to them, we support and celebrate their ideas providing the freedom to let off steam and have fun with their friends, as we know this is something that children need and is most beneficial to them.

Children create their own games, explore nature, make art, build dens, learn how to have fires safely, cook both in the kitchen and on the fire, be messy, climb, swing and jump, grow vegetables and create with the playworkers a place where play can thrive, and everyone is welcome. We know that play is beneficial in building resilience physically, emotionally and socially and children who attend our sites feel a real valued part of the playground community.

With 47.5% of the borough living in poverty (Indices of Multiple deprivation 2019) Islington is the 6th most deprived borough in London (out of 32). Islington is the London borough with the second least public green space of all London boroughs which makes our playgrounds very important especially for those growing up in flats, overcrowded housing and no outside space to play. With parental fear of stranger danger, crime and youth violence and the growing amount of time children spend on screens these spaces are a haven to inner city children and essential for their all-round development and wellbeing.

Together, we can create a future where every child has access to the joy of play. Your support today will transform lives tomorrow.