Leicester adventure playgrounds appeal to city mayor over withdrawal of funding

Six of Leicester's adventure playgrounds have written an open letter to Leicester City Council's city mayor asking him to "intervene at this critical point in the playgrounds' history."

In a letter sent to Sir Peter Soulsby and shared with LeicestershireLive, representatives of Braunstone, Highfields, New Parks, Northfields, St Andrews and Woodgate Adventure Playgrounds asked the city council to let them continue using the premises after this financial year.

In response, the city council said after next year they would struggle to fund any service they do not have a legal duty to provide.

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The playgrounds said they needed stay in possession of the playgrounds to secure the "large scale funding" they needed to give them the opportunity to "survive the next twelve months and flourish beyond." They added they would then be in a position to work in partnership with the council on new initiatives.

Currently, the playgrounds offer free, indoor and outdoor activities for children, with the council providing funding for school holidays. Money for the groups has been set aside for the upcoming financial year 2024/25, but beyond that, their future is uncertain.

In response, the council said they wanted to work with play associations now to help and encourage them to develop their business plans and identify new sources of funding over the coming year. They said they were also looking into how they might support the playgrounds through transfer of the land that the playgrounds operate on or long leases with a low rent.

In the letter, trustees from the playgrounds said: As respective trustees of the undersigned playgrounds, we are appealing directly to you as city mayor and leader of the council, to intervene at this critical point in the playgrounds' history. Having supported our continued funding over the previous decades, we are asking you to urgently address the issue of our security of tenure.

"This is a necessity for us to secure the large scale funding we need and gives us the opportunity to survive the next 12 months and flourish beyond. We’d also then be in apposition to work with in partnership with the council, on the targeted new initiatives that have been mentioned throughout this process.

"We are fully aware of the authority’s financial situation, as a result of the reduction in central government funding and we welcomed your commitment to our funding, over this financial year at the Full Council meeting 21st February. For this funding to provide the foundation for our successful continuation, we need the issue around our leases and subsequent asset transfers to be dealt with a sense of urgency.

"Without security of tenure we are a far less attractive proposition to potential funders and in turn less able to build upon other, alternative income streams. Our current one year leases are a genuine obstacle in attracting long term, sustainable funding.

"We are aware of many other city based organisations who currently hold extended leases and some who have taken up the asset transfer option, so are hopeful this is a rectifiable situation. We would like to take this opportunity to express our relief that the funding has been put back on a quarterly basis as opposed to the proposed monthly allocations.

"We know you’ll be aware that the playgrounds are much loved Projects that have served the city’s most economically disadvantaged communities for over half a century and that you will take this last and immediate opportunity to intervene, giving them the best chance of future survival."

What the council says

A Leicester City Council spokesperson said: “We have been proud to support the charitable play associations that run the city’s adventure playgrounds over the years, even when such facilities have disappeared in most cities. Sadly, after many years of government cuts, by next year we will struggle to fund any service that we don’t have a legal duty to provide, which is why we want to work with the play associations now - to help them to ensure they are around for many years to come.

“We want to help and encourage them to develop their business plans and identify new sources of funding over the coming year." As part of this, we are also looking into how we might support them through transfer of the land that the playgrounds operate on or long leases with peppercorn rent.

"We are actively working on how this can be achieved and working through the legal complexities as quickly as we can.”