We are delighted to open a wonderful new community building and announce £70,000 of investment into the playground.

After three years of hard work by staff and trustees we are delighted to open our wonderful new community building on the site of Felix Road Adventure Playground.

It has been a lot of work from all involved to create this brand new building from scratch. The trustees and staff team worked on all stages of the design and build to make sure that it was in keeping with the playground and our values.

The building is made from timber frame and powered by solar and an air source heat pump. It has an outdoor area with a veranda and a covered storage space.

We had always thought it would be a great addition to the organisation to provide an early years’ service on-site so we are pleased to be renting the building to our partners who run Raised in Easton at Easton Community Centre, Raised in Bristol CIC, a social enterprise.

We invited Raised in Bristol to open a second nursery (Raised in Felix Road) in our building, paying us rent but also a share of its profits to help secure the future of the playground as a free resource for local families. Open since August, there are already lots of working parents and their children using the nursery every day with a growing waiting list for the future. Open five days a week from 8 am until 6 pm, for up to sixty children each day, this is a valuable addition to the playground, its community and the local economy.

This is all part of our longer-term plans as Eastside Community Trust to protect, improve and enhance the playground for local children and families.

After a difficult year, we are really excited to announce that 2021 will see a number of changes and upgrades to the playground.

Thanks to hard work raising funds, we will be investing around £70,000 in the site in the coming year. We have contracted adventure playground experts Woodland Tribe to work with us from January involving children and parents in the design and build of their playground.

You will see a sensory garden, children’s allotment, outdoor classroom, new walkways and towers, an exciting new swing, a new mural and a rebuild of the main play structure. All chosen by the children during our summer consultation. We are increasing the outdoor covered space to ensure we can operate safely with COVID restrictions and making sure we can reopen our kitchen and provide hot food daily.

We will also be widening the pavement outside the playground to stop pavement parking and improving access to the nursery and playground, making it safer for everyone.