Team Ward volunteer for National Play Day at Shoreditch Adventure Park

On Wednesday 3 August 2022, Team Ward volunteered at Shoreditch Adventure Park, Young Hackney, for their annual National Play Day.

Shoreditch Adventure Park offers children and young people a safe place to visit, where they can take part in activities, learn life skills and meet new friends. The playground is free to attend and open to everyone. It provides a great outlet for young people and offers them experiences and activities that might not otherwise be available to them. The park also provide additional support to families via a weekly food bank. You can read more about the charity here: younghackney.org/organisation/shoreditch-adventure-playground/.

The Young Hackney Play Working team do an amazing and very rewarding job, and Ward were pleased to be able to assist in the set-up for the day, preparing the food bank, interacting with families on some of the activities and talking to parents throughout the day.

This is what some of Team Ward had to say about their experience:

Elaine Keiller, Regional Administrator at Ward, comments, “I have had the pleasure of volunteering with Young Hackney a number of times over the last year. What I like about Young Hackney is that their staff are so passionate and want the children to have fun whilst in their care. The children are able to explore new things in a safe environment. You know the children are having fun as they are running about with a smile on their face. We volunteer by helping the staff and interacting with the children and parents, which to me I can see that we are making a huge difference to a child. I thoroughly enjoy the days volunteering as I feel a sense of pride as I have been able to make a difference in the local community by giving time and being a good listener.”

Daisy Carr, Account Manager, adds, “I had the pleasure of attending to support one of our charities Young Hackney. My day consisted of setting up, assisting in juice prep, speaking with children and families as well as getting my face painted.

This was an eye opener for me and felt humbled with the opportunity to be a part of this extraordinary charity. Young Hackney does not only put on fantastic opportunities for children in the local area but I can see that the staff really care. Thank you Young Hackney and I look forward to coming back to assist in any way I can.”

During our time there, we heard from some of the parents about the great work the team at the playground do, and how it benefits their children in reality.

One parent commented, “My 12-year-old comes every day in the summer holidays, she absolutely loves it – she’s been coming for about 6 years now. She likes the people, she likes to come and meet new friends, do new things. They get to do what they want here, they’ve got free roam of it, it gives them a sense of responsibility. What’s great is that it’s free, they can get up in the morning and they know they’ve got somewhere to go, and we know they’re safe here as well. I don’t need to stay with her when she’s here, she’ll even come straight after school, she rings me to let me know she’s here, calls when she leaves and then comes home and she’s exhausted – it’s great!”

Another parent added, “I’ve got a 4-year-old who comes here, my 21-year-old has been coming here for years, and my 17-year-old actually volunteers here on days when he isn’t at sixth form. The staff are lovely, it’s mainly the staff that make it, they’re so open and welcoming. Michael [who works at the playground] I’ve known for many, many, years, he knows all my kids, even my 21-year-old. My kids love the way the staff interact with them and get them doing stuff. When they’re building things, the staff get the kids involved – they definitely learn life skills coming here. They learn how to fix things, they helped build the tree house at the Adventure Park. The kids do everything here, it’s brilliant.”