Playing Out – Positive Community Action in Un-Safe Spaces

Public parks in areas of urban deprivation are complex spaces — full of potential, but often shaped by fear, conflict and neglect. Through Playing Out, Urban Wilderness works with families, young people and community partners to reclaim these spaces for creativity, confidence and connection.

Our experiences show that when children play in public parks, communities grow stronger. Yet parents often share worries: fear of gangs, drug dealing or strangers; anxiety about being judged for letting children play outside; or feelings of isolation within their own neighbourhoods.

After volunteering at the Forest Worlds Festival, members of Etruria Matters asked for help to bring free play sessions to their local park. We delivered playwork training for community leaders and supported them to run four Playing Out events in August 2019. More than a hundred local children and families took part, reclaiming Etruria Park as a welcoming, playful community space.

Between September 2019 and March 2020, we ran monthly Playing Out sessions in Fenton East’s green spaces, working with young people referred by Clarice Cliff Primary School — many known to the school’s safeguarding and special needs teams — as well as those encountered informally in the park. Together we explored the space and shaped the sessions: photo walks, den building, raft construction, tree climbing, painting and building rope playgrounds. Each activity helped young people take ownership of their local environment and rediscover the freedom of play.

Parents, schools and community groups recognised the value of these sessions but also highlighted the barriers that restrict play:

• Formal permissions required by city councils

• Costs of insurance, equipment and materials

• Confidence to manage challenging behaviour

• The need for trained adult volunteers

Despite these challenges, Playing Out demonstrated that positive community action — supported by training, creativity and trust — can transform “unsafe” parks into spaces of belonging, joy and resilience.