Accessible & inclusive playgrounds

Becky Maddern, Director of PiPA, explains why it is important to have a tool to independently assess inclusiveness of outdoor play areas

As a parent to a child with a profound disability, I have first-hand experience of what it feels like to see your child excluded from parts of society. My son, Benjamin, has Cerebral Palsy and Epilepsy, and he is Registered Blind. He cannot sit unaided, crawl, stand, or walk. These are significant challenges, yet they do not define who he is. Benjamin is a little boy who loves to interact. He loves being swung high and connecting with other children. Most importantly, he deserves and has a right to access playgrounds alongside his brothers, his friends, and every other child.

The reality of exclusion

Unfortunately, many playgrounds remain inaccessible. As a family, we often avoid local parks because they cannot accommodate Benjamin safely or meaningfully. This is not unique to us; countless families across the UK face the same barriers. Benjamin is not excluded because of his disability alone but because playgrounds are too often designed without disabled children in mind. Accessibility and inclusion are still treated as optional, rather than fundamental. Through my campaigning, I discovered that in many cases, playgrounds are not inaccessible due to lack of funding, but due to a lack of understanding of what truly constitutes inclusive design. Funding is essential, it allows councils to purchase equipment and improve infrastructure, but it cannot replace knowledge and intention. We also do not have inclusivity imbedded within the National Design Code and therefore when new build estates are being built many play spaces are designed without accessibility and inclusivity at the heart of the design process. This has to change!

Redefining accessible play

An accessible playground is not one where a single wheelchair-accessible roundabout or a sensory panel is installed to tick a box. True inclusion means integrating accessible and inclusive equipment throughout the entire playground. It allows children of all abilities to play together naturally and enjoy challenge, adventure, and fun. To design a play space with greater inclusivity, we need to re-think our design and equipment choices while at the same time still providing risk and challenge.

True inclusion means integrating accessible and inclusive equipment throughout the entire playground

What is PiPA?

The PiPA Accreditation is a standard based on studied and agreed outcomes from the design of areas of play and social interaction. It exists to drive a set of impartial guidelines, which deliver improved play provision for disabled children and their families.

PiPA exists to empower the true meaning of inclusion, equality and diversity in play area design. Enabling everyone the same opportunity to play in a fun and safe environment, because all children need and have the right to play.

This insight led to the creation of PiPA Play. PiPA Play is a non-profit Community Interest Company that raises awareness, educates, and supports councils, designers, and play providers to understand what inclusive playgrounds look like in practice. We evaluate the entire family journey, from travelling to the park, through physical access, play value, rest and recharge spaces, and community engagement.

PiPA’s work in action

PiPA Play works at every stage of playground development. We review tender documents, assess current provision, and collaborate with play companies and councillors to improve designs. This ensures accessibility and inclusion are embedded from the outset, rather than retrofitted later. By helping stakeholders understand inclusive design, we prevent costly mistakes and create spaces where all children can thrive.

The impact of inclusive playgrounds

Play is fundamental to a child’s development. It supports physical health, communication, emotional wellbeing, confidence, and social connection. Inclusive playgrounds allow children and young people of all abilities to play together, fostering empathy, understanding, and respect from an early age. They help break down social barriers, reduce isolation, and strengthen communities.

Over the past eight years, my campaigning has taken me across the UK. I have worked with councils, presented to play equipment companies, supported Scope’s Let’s Play Fair campaign, and spoken to Members of Parliament. Through PiPA Play, I have turned lived experience into practical action, helping decision-makers understand not just the “why” but the “how” of inclusive playground design and how we can create invisible inclusiveness within our playgrounds.

Designing an accessible and inclusive playground is not about going above and beyond it is simply meeting the rights of every child to play

A vision for the future

Families like ours face daily barriers. Uneven surfaces, narrow pathways, lack of seating, and absence of sensory features make playgrounds inaccessible. Inclusive playgrounds address these issues holistically, ensuring every child can access, navigate, and enjoy the space safely.

Inclusive design is also about community. When children of all abilities play together, parents, carers, and siblings engage, learn, and share experiences. Communities become more connected and aware of diversity. It is vital that designers speak and meet with the families who we are advocating for. By designing playgrounds that include everyone, we invest in a future where inclusion is the norm, not the exception.

Benjamin, like every child, deserves joy, freedom, and the simple pleasure of play. Through awareness, education, and action, PiPA Play and so many other wonderful advocacy groups are helping to transform playgrounds from places of exclusion into environments of opportunity, joy, and belonging. Together, we can create a future where all children, regardless of ability, can play, grow, and thrive together because designing an accessible and inclusive playground is not about going above and beyond – it is simply meeting the rights of every child to play.