Places Stories

Holly Mosaics

...
Read more

A Touch of Summer

While you are out and about seeking sunshine and shelter this holiday why not pop in to Victoria Park to check out the Palm trees by the Pools Park and Skate area. The trees were made from design ideas collected over the summer holidays by the Keep...
Read more

Playable space round The Hut

Playable space at The Hut On Sunday March 24th local people came to see concept designs done by PLAYLINK for the green space at the Hut. Both adults and children looked at the range of ideas and had comments to share that will help towards the fina...
Read more

Palm trees in Victoria Park

Happy Playful New Year Its January and no snow - so far - unlike previous January days when Tower Hamlets parks have been full of children and adults playing, making snow people, having snowball fights, sliding on whatever can be found and generall...
Read more

Thursday play at Whitehorse Adventure Playground

Starting Thursday December 6th the Keep Playing team (Eleanor and Suzannah) and PATH playworkers will be at Whitehorse Adventure Playground. Play sessions after school are for all ages, we ask parents to stay with children under 6. Afternoons from ...
Read more

Playing all over the world

Keep Playing all over the world Charlie / Charlotte used to be out most Tuesdays at the play session often with her little brother. Other children asked when Charlie would be out and were always pleased to see her. So when she told us that she is m...
Read more

Play at St Stephens

We have been playing out on St Stephens estate since the end of August 2012. We don't really need much stuff for playing just some children and their imaginations but we have used some playful resources, skipping ropes and at one session practiced firs...
Read more

Climbing at Whitehorse Adventure Playground

After a busy summer of play sessions at different estates around the borough we had a celebration at Whitehorse Adventure Playground. Families came from the local area as well as travelling from Whitechapel. The children who travelled from their es...
Read more

Pools Park Opens in Victoria Park

There was a great turn out for the first annual Victoria Park Waterfight and what a fantastic way to celebrate not only the opening of the brand new water play feature but also the first sign of proper sun for the season!  Fami...
Read more

Play Champions help out at Fieldgate

New Play Champions Ruzina and Yasmin have been helping out at play sessions on Fieldgate estate. They have been at every session helping playworkers with registers and paperwork needed for the funders, Southern Housing and playing with the children thr...
Read more

Planning for play

Planning for play at Dinmont Residents at Dinmont estate both children and adults would like bigger swings in their play area. One Mum said 'my 4 year old can get in this swing but can't get out without help, I had real trouble lifting her out whil...
Read more

Playing out close to home

Its summer holidays the sun is shining and there is lots of play going on in Tower Hamlets. On July 26th the Keep Playing team from PATH were playing out on 4 different estates and at a community playscheme. Making the most of the sunny weather chi...
Read more

All Aboard

Keep Playing recommend all Play Champions who happen to be in Victoria Park to hunt down the canoe that PATH have been involved with. The 10 foot canoe was carved by Welsh chain saw artist Dafydd Hughes and placed in the park (by Cricketers Gate) o...
Read more

We love Trailblazers

We love tea time at Trail blazers, this week Claudia made us rice and hot vegetables with salad and everyone is very kind here. The staff are Clauida, Taile, Karla, Amira they are really kind and helpful because if you need help they can help and e...
Read more

Trailbazers for Play

Trailblazers by Amiyah and Geneva   The parachute is fun, it’s enjoyable. All the kids like to play with it. Everyone likes playing sleeping lions under the parachute. Geneva says that if she was going to teach a parachute game...
Read more

Keeping in touch over summer

During the summer holidays the Keep Playing team and playworkers will be playing out at different places around Tower Hamlets. We are planning new play sessions, some playful events and an evening play event for all Play Champions. We will be playi...
Read more

Dunmore Point Hut

Wingmore, Gascoigne and Leopold Neighbourhood Group are a constituted group working with local people to improve their area. People wanted to see the old community hut that has been locked for 10 years back in use with opportunities for residents, ...
Read more

Playing in the Idea Store Bow

Eleanor and Suzannah (the Keep Playing Team) visited the Idea Store Bow for their first Keep Playing session at the library. We played snap,we tried to be quiet and met an elephant ...
Read more

Favourite Place to Play

Victoria Park is one of many favourite places to play because there is a lot of places to play.For example, it has a skate park where you can make good conversations with lot's of differents crowds. Also there is 2 parks. The first one has 2 slides and...
Read more

Pancake Day

Tuesday February 21st Children came to Mile End Childrens Park to celebrate pancake day. Using outdoor gas burners with the help of Play Champions and park rangers Paul, Sean, Rayne and Ivor. There was a pancake race with a real golden pan for ...
Read more

Mudchute Park and Farm

On a day out at Mudchute Park and Farm Tiny Ted was worried the goats might eat him. Luckily he was rescued by the fantasic Playworkers and is now looked after by the children ...
Read more

Mini Play Champions in the snow

Can you recognise this place? It's a Tower Hamlets Park to give you a clue. The snow brings people of all ages out to play, creating snow sculptures, sliding down even the smallest slopes on anything available and for some taking their toys out on ...
Read more

A hidden place to play

Once the home of a thriving One O'clock Club, this little corner of E2 was all but forgotten except by a few gardening enthusiasts living in the immediate area. A couple of years ago a few local residents, suddenly finding ourselves with toddlers and n...
Read more

Junior Champions show us their free running skills

Junior Play Champions Conor and Charlie free running video -   Charlie and Connor are keen street runners. Where better to practice their skills than in their local adventure playground in Bethnal Green. In this short film Charli...
Read more

Halloween

I have been involved with planning playful events at Mile End Children's Park since I started working there 4 years ago. I am a Play Champion because I believe there should be more playful places for children as well as Mile End Park which is a really ...
Read more

How low level traffic can turn a street into a play space

I was on Vyner Street one Sunday afternoon with my Dad. It's a shortish road tucked away between Viccy Park, the canal, and the south end of Mare Street. We'd gone to see some art galleries and were sitting outside a proper old east end pub, in the col...
Read more

Play Champion in Mile End Park

Paul Sammut has been working with children in Tower Hamlets for years. He is a great champion for children's play and finds lots of creative things to do on small budgets. This summer Mile End Children's Park had lots of free play events for childr...
Read more

Eric Street play space

PATH were contacted about potential funding from KerryGold, a dairy collective who wanted to give £20,000 to create a play space in an urban environment. We knew East End Homes had spaces around estates where children could be playing and had work...
Read more

Play Pod

The Play Pod is a thing of mystery. Looking like a green shipping container or a green tardis it lives in Mile End park next to Solebay bridge. It appeared in April 2009 next to a busy pedestrian route through the park.  We opened the doors of...
Read more

Ella plays out where she can

Ella lives in Tower Hamlets and loves to play, she gets out as much as possible. During the last summer holidays Ella was busy playing at Weavers Adventure Playground and Roman Road. ''I've got friends at both playgrounds'' said Ella ''and I think chil...
Read more

Desolate Play Spaces

Desolate Play Spaces from Play Association Tower Hamlets on Vimeo. A short but rivetting film documenting the loss of play spaces in Tower Hamlets. Concrete and tarmac stand witness to the play scars of removed play equipment. ...
Read more

Glamis Adventure Playground

Glamis Adventure Playground in Shadwell has been a place that children have played since 1970's it closed during 1990's and all the self built play structures were removed. With the arrival of Children's Fund money in 2001 local people were asked what ...
Read more

Getting Fit and Keeping Weavers Adventure Playground Open

Alfie and Michael care about their local adventure playground so much that when they heard that it may have to close, due to council cuts, they decided  they would do something about it. Along with other young people and parents, Alfie a...
Read more