Outdoor play and leisure activities is something I have never been able to engage or participate in and explore fully all my life. Even as a very small child when I went to local playgrounds the only piece of equipment I was able to go on was a swing but even that wasn’t as enjoyable as I would have liked as I am a full-time wheelchair and cannot balance myself independently. Therefore, my mom would have to support me at all times and I would become quite uncomfortable very easily.
It was difficult watching other kids go on everything in the playground, over time it was something I learned to accept, but the options were very, very limited. All I wanted was to be able to play like any human being and that option just wasn’t possible.
When Crann reached out to everyone in summer 2020 to inform us about a project they would be taking on to make an inclusive playground and leisure area I was overjoyed. However if someone asked me to describe my idea of an inclusive playground at that time I would have responded “a wheelchair-accessible swing, a wheelchair accessible roundabout and any other basic equipment you would expect to find at a playground”. Little did I know this would be so much more than my original expectations!
I remember the day we were shown the full design of the playground and leisure area in august 2020– my heart was immediately filled with excitement, there was so much to take in! There was so much equipment, so many different areas and what particularly caught my eye was that there was a world of endless options. I was truly ecstatic.
Thanks to Crann, I will no longer have limits and barriers to outdoor play, this project is one that will change my life forever.
That’s why Crann is building our fully Accessible Playground & Leisure Area. A space where families with disabilities can play, socialise, learn and grow together.
