We launched our Playful Street by combining it with a Street Feast event to get everyone in the estate involved. Our committee organised seating, music, food, drink and lighting as well as our new games and activities to get everyone together for a much needed catch up after a long pandemic separation.
The Street Feast gave everyone in our estate an event to attend to see their neighbours, catch up with friends and also welcome new members to the growing community, especially those who had moved in over the last couple of years.
The atmosphere and energy around the event was felt by everyone but especially from the children of the estate who love when everyone gets together. The fact that the funding and combination of the Playful Street event allowed them to play safely and freely and with new things just built on this excitement!
The children were able to play together both on the green and on the road (thanks to the Playful Street procedures and some colourful traffic restricting bunting!) and with new, different large scale games. While the children in our estate usually enjoy playing a variety of sports, they got a renewed sense of fun from the variety of activities and space the Playful Street helped us provide. It was heartwarming to see all the children of the estate, of all ages, playing together, especially when the older ones helped some of the younger ones to ride bikes and scooters up and down the sectioned off road.
The Playful Street Feast also encouraged the adults to get together, renew established friendships and also begin new ones. We have since expanded our committee and added subcommittees to help manage our estate and to keep it litter (and ice) free. The children have enjoyed playing together in new and different ways, including creating a Merry Christmas message for everyone in the community and surrounding area. The estate now has a renewed buzz and sense of investment from the residents and we hope that with continued investment from our new committees (and of course from the children and their own, self-established committee) this energy and estate relationships will continue to grow!
The children of our estate are always eager to get outside, especially to share their love of sports and games. Currently the children try their best to use trees, sticks, stones and whatever they can find to create goalpost, as well as miming basketball shots up and down the road. This seed funding will help us to provide goalposts and basketball hoops to give the children a safe, structured area to really play and practice their skills.
It will also give us the opportunity to provide some large scale board games and activities, in a designated area, for the smaller children in the estate, who don't have the same opportunity to play safely outside.
After the isolation we have all had to endure over the past couple of years we have wanted an excuse to get the estate together. This outdoor, Safe Playful Space, will allow us to bring everyone together to become reacquainted with their neighbours and meet the new neighbours in our growing estate to create a safe, trusting, more unified community.
