We recently installed some new play equipment at the Pond Garden in Stanmer Wellbeing Gardens – thanks to support from the Chalk Cliff Trust and Legal & General. The Pond Garden is part of our 4.5-acre site in Stanmer Park on the edge of Brighton – a site used by community groups & local residents who regularly hire our woodland spaces for forest schools, children’s parties, family gatherings, workshops and more.
Why Add New Play equipment
The simple play equipment in the Woodland Garden nearby is one of the busiest areas on site and often fully booked throughout the week and weekend, so we wanted to expand the offer for young people.
The Pond Garden already hosts hundreds of local school children each summer, who explore the pond’s vibrant wildlife, which has been recognised as ecologically significant by the South Downs National Park. The Pond Garden only recently opened for hires & visits after years of restoration work & investment to bring the pond back into good condition, so we decided to further develop the space by adding play equipment alongside.
The play area was designed based on feedback from the local children who visited the park in 2025 and gave their ideas and voted for favourite options.
We were pleased to work closely with local experts Woodland Tribe on the installation. Woodland Tribe are known across the UK for helping children, families and communities co-create extraordinary structures and amazing play spaces, including at well-known Festivals and events.
Play area – essential info
There are two swings and a balance rope on site. Everyone is responsible for their own safety when using the play equipment.
All children will be different in size & ability but it is roughly designed for ages 7-13. The equipment has been designed for adventure play – offering new challenges & opportunities and a chance to test limits.
What is ‘adventure play’?
From Woodland Tribe
Children are natural risk takers. They are learning about their world, about themselves, and testing boundaries. Adventure play gives children the ideal environment to explore and experiment, to learn to manage risk. And they’re more adept at this than we might expect! Through trial and error children learn to listen to their own signs of anxiety, figure out their capabilities and gradually increase the challenge at their own pace. Fewer accidents occur in adventure playgrounds than in conventional ones and research has shown that children do significantly more exercise when playing independently than when doing organised sports. Swinging, spinning and jumping – all of this develops balance and coordination as well as providing sensory regulation.
Unstructured free-play is the most natural way children build emotional resilience – learning how to problem solve independently, set their own goals, deal with set-backs, negotiate difficult interactions, try new things and face their fears. Play is all about uncertainty, it’s all about ‘what if’ moments and when children are playing they embrace a world of uncertainty. They learn to be adaptable, to be brave.
At a time when the NHS are reporting an alarming increase in childhood anxiety and many psychologists argue that a decline in independent play has led to a decline in children’s mental wellbeing, adventure play is vital. Recent research has found that children who spend more time engaged in adventurous play have fewer symptoms of anxiety and depression, and increased resilience later in life.
If we deprive children of independent, adventurous play we deprive them of the chance to grow up with the confidence and ability to run their own lives. And it’s not just about their future – it’s about the here and now. Child-led play spaces promote children’s agency and sense of ownership, children learn that their ideas and their self expression are valid and important. When there is no ‘right’ or ‘wrong’ way to play all ways of being are celebrated. Adventure play empowers children, fosters connections and brings joy!
Visit the Pond Garden & share your feedback
Find out more about visiting and hiring the Stanmer Wellbeing Gardens & the Pond Garden on our venue pages.
If you have visited the park and have feedback to share with us, please email info@bhfood.org.uk.
