Blog: November 2010 Archives

This week, Councillor Rodney Degens of Coffs Harbour City Council put forward the idea of a playground for seniors?

Some thought his idea was crazy. What, swings and slides for granny?

Not exactly, the Councillor was putting forward the concept of outdoor gyms accessible to seniors as a means of getting seniors in the community more active. As Councillor Degens put it, “As we are all getting older and in our turn becoming seniors, shouldn’t we desire that these seniors remain as healthy as they can, as flexible and as self-reliant as possible?”

The article grabbed the attention of the media and was run by the local daily and radio station. The newspaper article can be found here

The idea of calling outdoor gyms ‘Playgrounds for Seniors’ is a good one. After all, working out in parks should be fun!

Why should kids have all the fun? Why do so many adults stop exercising as soon as they’ve grown out of playground equipment? What can we do to get teenagers through to seniors more active?

We have the answer. A-Play have just launched a new division, Fit-for-Parks. This new division offers an exciting range of outdoor gym equipment designed to keep adults active. It’s fun to use but offers serious fitness benefits. The range has been designed to provide accessible facilities in public spaces, adding a further dimension to a stroll through the park. There are a multiple fitness stations offering exercises that work every part of the body.

Fit-for-Parks is supported by detailed but easy to follow exercise instructions on each item of equipment.

It offers a wonderful opportunity to help create healthier communities. More information will be posted to our website soon.

Love it or hate, the Building the Education Revolution (BER) Program has been great in terms of updating facilities for schools. Across the country you’ll find new libraries, labs, multi-purpose centres, etc. Kids now have greatly improved indoor facilities at school.

But what about the playgrounds?

Over the past 18 months we’ve seen an increasing number of schools that have had playground equipment removed to make way for new buildings. What should be happening is that the existing playground equipment (if still compliant i.e. post 2004 and in reasonable condition) should be relocated. However we are seeing cases where this is not happening. As a result children are being left with less play opportunities. This leads to a host of other issues important in children’s development.

We’re keen to see the Government set aside funding for the restoration of playgrounds as the BER projects are brought to conclusion.

If you know of schools where this problem has occurred please write to us. The more evidence we can present, the stronger our case!