Friends of Grove Adventure Playground |
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the heart of Loughborough Junction |
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CORONAVIRUS AND THE PLAYGROUND Grove Adventure Playground made the difficult decision to shut its doors on 15th March, in advance of the coronavirus landing in Lambeth. We now sincerely hope that the all the children of Loughborough Junction and their families are managing as well as possible and keeping safe. This is a unique time in history that is testing us all to the absolute limit, so we must all help each other as best we can. When the moment finally arrives, we will welcome the children of Loughborough Junction back to the playground with joy, love, happiness and great adventures that we hope will help them recover from these uncertain times. |
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GROVE HELPS WITH EMERGENCY FOOD DISTRIBUTION |
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The playground, working in partnership with The Healthy Living Platform and Lambeth Council, has been distributing food during the current crisis. We deliver 35 large trays of donated food to the local community by wheelbarrow, bike, sack trolley, car and on foot, providing food and essentials to around 75 vulnerable folk each week. Warm thanks go to our fantastic staff and other friends who have volunteered and helped us keep in touch with many of the local families that support the playground. |
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Video of Grove emergency food distribution, by Young Creators UK |
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Despite the current situation that has temporarily closed the adventure playground, the staff and supporters at Grove remain very busy and we have lots of good news to share. - During the period of shutdown, we are running an on-line playground and our Play Leader, Oli Perrins, has published a great deal of fun stuff on the website. - Our search for funding at the playground goes on and we continue to get great support from BBC Children in Need along with other funders like The People’s Health Trust, Lambeth CLIPS and Garfield Weston. - We have recently received some good news with further grant support amounting to £10,000 from Lambeth to help with our community work and essential fund raising. - The Grove Business Club has been developing a unique line in playground merchandise, including mugs, t-shirts, badges and postcards and these can be purchased from our website or by contacting us on Groveapg@gmail.com - Meanwhile, our new community allotment is coming on well, with the allotment team looking after the new spring growth and basic maintenance, despite the current crisis. - We have also been busy making some interesting changes around the playground and hope to be opening the Grove Cycle Workshop and other new features very soon. - Finally, the playground has kindly been donated a minibus by another local adventure playground and we hope this will be a great help to our operations and adventures in the future. Are there any mechanics out there? Please let us know if you can check the van out for us. |
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Fancy a good read or just somewhere to sit and watch the world go by. Our almost unique naturally ventilated community exchange library has proved a great success with a choice of excellent books for all ages. We have luxury bench seating with integrated arm rests, an ingenious rain protection system with automated safety lighting installation providing 24/7 access to the community. |
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The playground is a free community service and we have over 400 registered local children from some of the most deprived and densely populated parts of the country. If you have anything you think we can make good use of, please use the link, below. |
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Thames Excursion February 2020 |
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The whole playground went on an excursion to the Thames in February. After a successful Crowdfunder, we were able to hire two coaches and put a deposit down on the vast sum required to secure some advance and un-dscounted Thames Clipper tickets, (errr ... thanks TfL). Our coaches dropped us off by the Tower of London where we split into two groups, the Tower Team and Clipper Crew. The Tower Team went above the Thames and climbed up to the Tower Bridge Museum, politely querying the absence of a lift service, but they still managed to enjoy the views from the huge glass floor at the top of the bridge. |
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Meanwhile, the Clipper Crew got the boat down to Battersea Power Station and most were thrilled to glimpse many famous London sites float by, whilst others paid more interest to their lunch. Those who went outside on deck made a great roar whenever we went under a bridge and demanded a response from every other nearby boat, including the river police! The Tower Team and Clipper Crew were re-united back at Tower Wharf at lunchtime, as hundreds of tourists waiting for their boat looked on as the two playground groups exchanged greetings and handshakes as if they were going out of fashion, (they are now!), before heading off in opposite directions. |
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It was a bit grey and cold, the bus was late and we missed one of our boats, but the excellent behaviour of kids (and staff) made this a trip to remember. Thanks to everyone that supported our Crowdfunder campaign and all the staff, volunteers, parents and kids. |
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Grove Adventure Playground originally started life nearby its current Loughborough Junction home during the winter of 1969. It was known as the Angell Town Adventure Playground, with the entrance situated on Overton Road, (below). The site is now occupied by the St. John’s Angell Town Primary School. |
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The playground was evicted from Angell Town by Lambeth Council in 1971 but the original Playground Warden, Mr Francis McLennon, (Franny), was undaunted and found another site for the kids to play, right in the heart of Loughborough Junction. The site was next to Elam Gardens, (below), and occupied the area that is now the Hertford Estate. It was still called Angell Town Adventure Playground during this period, even after it moved for a second time, when it hopped across the road to the present Gordon Grove site. |
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If you went to Angell Town Adventure Playground, Angell Arts & Play, Brixton Arts Club or Grove Adventure Playground pre-2015 and have any old pictures or memories you would like to share with us, please get in touch. |
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Become a Friend ofGrove Adventure Playground |
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Grove Adventure Playground was re-opened in 2018 by the efforts of the community, co-ordinated by the Loughborough Junction Action Group, (LJAG), and is now run by a dedicated group of workers and volunteers who are making a genuine change to the lives of many children and young people who live in Loughborough Junction. We now have over 400 registered children. The playground is an open access, free, supervised adventure playground for 6-14 year old children and young people who get the opportunity to explore the world around them in a safe and secure environment, make new friends and learn new skills. We also provide fresh and nutritious food, drinks and snacks every day. We receive no direct funding and operate through grant support from various foundations, charitable bodies, local businesses and other organisations, but even with this generous support we are only able to open during school holidays and on a number of Saturdays during the year. If you would like to support Grove Adventure Playground and help us keep this vital service open you can help in a number of ways: 1) Become a Friend of Grove Adventure Playground and set up a regular monthly donation. 2) Order some Grove Merchandise. 3) Volunteer your skills or make any other donations you can. EVERY PLAYGROUND NEEDS ITS FRIENDS! |
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