Adam Brookes - Wicksteed Playgrounds

Good to be back in #Tamworth last week and drop by at the Castle Grounds 🏰 What an amazing #playarea it is! 🤸 Here is a link to the drone footage we shot not long after it opened youtu.be/kArU8Rp7k4A #wicksteed #playmuststay #ukmanufacturing 🇬🇧

Trampolines bring big play value boosting movement, balance and shared fun 💚 Our range includes a wheelchair‑accessible trampoline, ensuring children of all abilities can bounce and play together. #PlayForAll #InclusivePlay #WicksteedPlay

🎥 Take a walkthrough of our new inclusive play area at North Dock, Llanelli 💙 Designed for all ages and abilities—because play should be for everyone 🙌 👉 Planning a project? Get in touch and let’s bring it to life. 🎥 | Dawn Fearn #InclusivePlay #PlayForAll #Wicksteed

Looking to fund a community or play project? The FCC Community Action Fund is now open: tinyurl.com/3a6536xy ✅Grants from £10k–£100k available 📅Closes 20 May 2026 If you’re planning a project, it’s worth checking your eligibility & we’re here to help bring it to life.

A bird’s-eye view of Westerton Play Area 🌳🛝 @EDCouncil has a newly transformed space featuring our iconic Canopy Multiplay Unit from the Treetops Range, plus spinning, swinging & imaginative play for endless adventure. #Wicksteed #TogetherWePlay #PlaygroundDesign

A big thumbs up from local children 👍Everill Close play area has been transformed and is already being enjoyed by the community. #ItAllStartsWithPlay #CommunityPlay #InclusivePlay #Wicksteed 📸| Barnsley Parks and Green Spaces

In 2026, we’re celebrating 150 years of British manufacturing in Kettering and a legacy built on engineering, innovation, and play 🎉 From engineering innovation to the UK’s leading playground manufacturer, Wicksteed has shaped generations of play. #Wicksteed150 #BritishMade

We’ve supplied the UK's first Vertex climbing unit at Rhyddings Park for @HyndburnCouncil. Our Area Sales Manager Lewis shared: “I used to be a climbing instructor, so seeing this climbing unit go into a playground is especially good to see.” #TogetherWePlay #ItAllStartsWithPlay

We were proud to welcome Rt Hon @RachelReevesMP to HQ, alongside @rosie_wrighting @TomHayesBmouth & Eugene Minogue of @PlayEngland The £18m investment in play areas will shape #inclusive #play spaces that bring #communities together across the UK. #ItAllStartsWithPlay

Today I joined the Chancellor, @RachelReevesMP, together with @TomHayesBmouth MP, Chair of the @APPGonPlay and @Rosie_Wrighting MP for Kettering, for a visit to @WicksteedPlay to discuss the Government’s £18 million investment in England’s playgrounds and the role of the British play industry in delivering it. playengland.org.uk/newsblog/play-… This investment is welcome. It is the first national commitment to children’s play since the 2008 National Play Strategy and has the potential to improve up to 200 playgrounds in the areas that need it most. But it a starting point, not a finish line! At yesterday’s @APPGonPlay, we brought together organisations from across the sector to set out what is needed for meaningful, long-term change. That includes not only capital investment in playgrounds, but a wider approach that recognises the importance of adventure playgrounds, staffed play provision and the playwork workforce. Without these, we risk improving playgrounds while leaving untouched the deeper issues affecting access, inclusion and children’s everyday experience of play. Having the chance to discuss this directly with the Chancellor today was only important, but pivotal. While our conversation focused on three priorities for delivering lasting impact: - A transparent, evidence-based model so investment reaches communities facing the greatest inequalities - Strong national guidance to support councils to plan, design and maintain inclusive and sustainable playgrounds - Long-term certainty for the British play industry We also discussed the wider structural reforms needed: a National Play Strategy, Play Sufficiency legislation, and our bold, new strategy - It All Starts with Play! which sets out a ten-year pathway to restoring a play-based childhood in England. It was a valuable opportunity to showcase the breadth and depth of British engineering, manufacturing and craftsmanship at Wicksteed. My thanks to Katherine Perkins and the team for hosting us and for demonstrating the capability and innovation that sit behind British-made play equipment. @PlayEngland will continue working across Government, Parliament and the sector to secure further investment, stronger policy and a coherent, rights-based national approach to play. That includes ongoing advocacy for adventure playgrounds, the playwork profession and play sufficiency as essential public infrastructure. #ItAllStartsWithPlay!

£18m for England’s playgrounds & the British play industry Today we joined @RachelReevesMP, @TomHayesBmouth & @Rosie_Wrighting at @WicksteedPlay to discuss how this investment can improve playgrounds & support manufacturing and jobs playengland.org.uk/newsblog/play-… #ItAllStartsWithPlay

A real honour to welcome @RachelReevesMP, Chancellor of the Exchequer, to Wicksteed today — along with @rosie_wrighting, @TomHayesBmouth & @EugeneMinogue from @PlayEngland. We showcased our British-made play manufacturing and the passion behind it. #ItAllStartsWithPlay

What a difference! 🌟 Hand Lane Play Area in Wigan is now an inclusive play space designed by Wicksteed—safe, accessible, and built for fun! #PlayForAll #WicksteedPlay #CommunitySpaces #BeforeAndAfter @WiganCouncil

'Why the £18 million for playgrounds in the budget is so important – and how it should be spent' - @ConversationUK theconversation.com/why-the-18-mil… This new investment is the first significant policy step towards supporting children’s play since 2008, when the then Labour government introduced the first national play strategy. That strategy was scrapped just two years later as an austerity measure. playengland.org.uk/newsblog/seven… This is an apt example of how frequently play is overlooked and undervalued, despite the mountain of evidence that proves its importance and its protection as a right in the UN convention on the rights of the child (UNCRC). Children’s outdoor play has declined by 50% in a single generation. Only 27% of children play in the streets regularly, compared with 80% of adults when they were children in the 1970s. Over 2 million children in England under the age of nine do not live within a ten-minute walk of a playground. This lack of access to playgrounds is more significant for children from deprived areas. A recent study found substantial inequality: deprived areas of England have fewer, smaller playgrounds that were also further to travel to. playengland.org.uk/newsblog/to-pl… Playgrounds must meet the play needs of all children and should be designed in an inclusive manner, with opportunities for children of all ages, genders and abilities to play. In allocating and spending the money set aside for playgrounds, it is crucial that their primary beneficiaries and users – children – are involved in decisions about how the money is spent and how play spaces are designed. Play spaces need to be accessible to children. This means considering how far playgrounds are from children’s homes, and whether children are able to safely get to them by themselves. They must offer quality play experiences: they must support imaginative play, creativity, be stimulating and include elements of risk. The budget announcement of playground investment is welcome, and long overdue, but it is just the first step to ensuring that children have their right to play fulfilled. Children’s right to play can only be realised through acknowledging that children’s rights are equal to those of adults. This means we need a cultural shift that acknowledges this equality and that play is critical for children of all ages. We need a culture that supports and promotes children’s play, especially their free play: play that is child-led. Playgrounds are only part of the answer. #ItAllStartsWithPlay #PlaySufficiency #NationalPlayStrategy #UNCRC #Artcle31

All our playground equipment is made in the UK! Our skilled workshop team builds every piece with care and precision. Watch a Physical Development Block come to life! 🛠️🎨 #MadeInTheUK #SchoolPlayground #OutdoorLearning #ActivePlay #UKWorkshop

It was fantastic to visit @WicksteedPlay, a British manufacturer in Kettering that’s been making play equipment since 1918. With 100+ people helping to build the playgrounds children need, it was great to hear their excitement about @RachelReevesMP’s new £18m playgrounds fund!

A big thank you to @TomHayesBmouth for visiting Wicksteed HQ today. He toured the factory, met our team and saw how we design and build long-lasting inclusive play equipment right here in the UK 🇬🇧 More updates coming soon 👀 #WicksteedPlay #RightToPlay #MadeInBritain

£18m secured in the Budget for 200 play areas in England! playengland.org.uk/newsblog/play-… @PlayEngland working with @TomHayesBmouth & the @APPGonPlay have pushed this nationally We now need a new National Play Strategy & Play Sufficiency legislation #ItAllStartsWithPlay #Playgrounds

Big news at Wicksteed HQ! 🎉 
The Mayor of Kettering joined us for the ribbon-cutting of our new CNC Router — supporting innovation, local skills and the next era of British play. 🇬🇧 #Wicksteed #PlayMatters #MayorofKettering

“Play spaces are not just places of fun— they’re essential for children’s development.” — @TomHayesBmouth 
 Read more here 👇 mirror.co.uk/news/politics/… #RightToPlay #PlayMatters

You may remember our custom-painted Elephant Springy 🐘 unveiled at Parliament for Play England's 10-year strategy #ItAllStartsWithPlay. It’s now found a new home — proudly donated to and sitting in the office of MP @TomHayesBmouth for Bournemouth East. #RightToPlay #Wicksteed