A Playground That Finally Lets Every Child Join In

For 10-year-old Millie, a trip to the local playground used to mean watching her friends have fun from the sidelines.

Now, that has changed.

After a campaign led by Millie and her mother, Sophie, Drayton Park in Portsmouth has undergone a £180,000 transformation to make the space far more accessible for children with disabilities.

Millie uses a motorised wheelchair, and the old woodchip surface made much of the playground impossible for her to reach. While her friends could run freely from one area to another, Millie often couldn’t follow.

Two years ago, the family had to travel around 20 minutes to Whiteley, near Fareham, to find inclusive play equipment.

“We just wanted Millie to be able to play with her friends,” Sophie’s campaign effectively argued — and persistence eventually turned that request into a major local improvement.

Designed with inclusion in mind

The redesigned playground includes a raised inclusive playframe, a ground-level roundabout that wheelchair users can access, swings, climbing equipment and sensory and interactive features.

There are also new seating and picnic areas, including accessible options.

Perhaps most importantly for Millie, much of the playground now has a surface suitable for wheels.

That simple change makes a huge difference. Instead of being restricted to the edges of the park, she can move around much more freely and join her friends.

A mother’s persistence pays off

Sophie was closely involved in the redesign process, attending meetings and speaking to councillors about her daughter’s experience.

The project received £20,000 directly from Portsmouth City Council, with the remaining funding coming from the Community Infrastructure Levy — money contributed by property developers towards local infrastructure.

Sophie says she is particularly pleased that the improvements could benefit families beyond her own.

Millie will eventually grow out of the playground, but the changes will remain for future generations of children.

A small change with a big impact

Not every wish could be included. Councillor Simon Bosher said inclusive play equipment can be expensive, meaning a wheelchair-specific swing was not possible within the available budget.

But the project demonstrates that accessibility isn’t always about one specialist piece of equipment.

Sometimes, it is about making sure the whole environment allows people to participate.

For Millie, the difference was summed up perfectly when the renovated playground officially opened.

Rather than cutting a traditional ribbon, she drove straight through it in her wheelchair — and into the playground to find her friends.

That moment says more about inclusive design than any set of statistics could.

A playground is supposed to be somewhere children can play together. Making sure every child can get onto the ground, reach the equipment and move around alongside their friends isn’t an extra luxury. It is what makes the playground truly shared.

And in Portsmouth, one family’s persistence has helped make that possible.