Two new play parks for families

Two brand new play parks are set to open in late summer 2023. The project will see part of Drummond Road recreational ground and St Michaels recreational ground on White Abbey Road transformed into nature based play areas for the communities to enjoy.  

The project is a collaboration between the JU:MP, Born in Bradford, Bradford Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, Make Space for Girls, Masjid E Bilal, Al Markaz ul Islami, The Meridian Centre, Manningham Housing and Bradford Council. The green spaces have been co-designed with local children and families who came together to identify what barriers they faced accessing local green spaces to get physically active in and what would support and encourage them to use the green spaces more in the future to keep active.

The work was led by JU:MP Community Engagement Manager Sonia Fayyaz, who has engaged a wide variety of local stakeholders and community members to involve and include them in the co-design / co-production process to ensure they have their say throughout the project. Sonia Fayyaz, Community Engagement Manager for JU:MP said:

I am absolutely delighted to lead on the delivery of 2 new play parks in Manningham. The new play parks will be hugely valuable assets in a highly built up area of Manningham, Bradford and have been co-designed with local children and families with local needs in mind.  
  
It is necessary for our parks and green spaces to be inclusive if all groups are to gain from the positive effects in health in wellbeing. Allowing different voices and perspectives to be heard throughout the policy and design processes aids in producing safer, more equitable green spaces in the areas that we are covering through JU:MP. 

JU:MP have worked with a variety of groups, including teenage girls from 2 local madrassahs – Masjid E Bilal, Al Markaz ul Islami to co-design plans for Drummond Field and children from local primary schools – Miriam Lord and Green Lane Primary to co-design St Michael’s Recreational ground.

They also work closely with key organisations such as the Bradford Council Parks team, primary schools, mosques and madrassas and community organisations and local elected members to ensure voices from all areas of the community continue to shape the future of the programme. Councillor Sarfraz Nazir of Manningham Ward said:

We are delighted to have worked alongside the JU:MP Manningham team and more importantly local children and families who were involved in co-designing the 2 new play spaces. In particular the young girls who worked together to design the new play space for Drummond Field.   

As elected members we hope to continue working collaboratively to create safer and better green spaces for our communities and where our children and families feel safe and can enjoy themselves to be healthy and happy in the areas that they live in.   

Councillor Sarah Ferriby, Bradford Council’s Executive Member for Healthy People and Places, added:

It has been great to be able to work together with our partners on these projects and more importantly with local children and families to ensure that these green spaces will be enjoyed by the community now and in the future.

Imogen Clark, a trustee at Make Space for Girls, said:

When people think of spaces for teenagers, they almost always think of skate parks, fenced pitches and bike tracks. But these tend to be dominated by boys; and lots of girls just don’t get a look in. Listening to what girls say about what would make them feel more welcome in parks is a key part of solving this.

We’re really excited to have worked with the JU:MP programme and the team at Bradford Council’s parks department to support a group of amazing young girls worked together to co-design Drummond Fields new play area.

Make sure to check out JU:MP’s What’s On to find local activities going on in your area!

Join the JU:MP movement, along with over 10,000 family members in Bradford.