Funding plea for 'lifeline' community playground

Mel Elsworthy has worked at the centre in Braunstone for 23 years

"This is the only free-for-all centre for children left on this estate," says Mel Elsworthy, co-manager of Braunstone Adventure Playground.

She says the facilities, which also include a games hall, dance studio, art room and photographic dark room, are a "lifeline" for the community.

This Christmas, she says they will need to make redundancies to keep the place open for the future and local tradespeople have already rallied to patch up a leaky roof at the centre.

While she is grateful for the support, Mel says they need funding to fix the roof to keep welcoming children to the playground.

The centre in Cort Crescent - which has been operating since the 1960s - currently has 874 children registered with the service, aged between six to 16.

It also has more than 70,000 visits every year, and provides food and activities free of charge for about 40 children per night, Mel says.

It operates on a licence with Leicester City Council, which was renewed in 2024 for the next five years.

A spokesperson said the authority was aware of the issue, adding: "The roof needs a £100,000-plus complete overhaul and at the moment, we don't know if the adventure playground has firm plans to continue past March of next year."

The leak has been fixed only temporarily, while the arts and crafts room is no longer usable due to black mould on the ceiling

Mel says they have had issues with the roof for the last three years, with black mould in one of the rooms, which they can no longer use, and a recurring leak in another.

"We've got water running through this inside area, which is our only dry space really when it's too cold or too wet to be outside.

"This area will be full with 40, 50 kids per night, and we're struggling to keep this watertight at the minute.

"We've been back and forth with Leicester City Council, which is responsible for the roof to get this problem solved, but, obviously... they are struggling at the minute," she says.

The centre hosts activities for about 40 children per night

Mel says it was community spirit that made a handful of tradesmen come in and patch up the leaky ceiling last week.

"Last Tuesday I came in and the water was pouring through this hallway, so I put a post on Facebook," she says.

"And Wednesday morning, there were four tradesmen already here willing to help, all up on the roof, trying to patch the holes up.

"Since then we've had loads and loads of interest. People offering plastering boards, people volunteering all the time. Honestly, we've been overwhelmed with people's support.

"All of these people are from the local community, so it's just better really. [They are] people who used to come here when they were children.

"I've come in this morning, and it's come through the ceiling again. I'm disappointed, but hopefully we can get the word out and get it fixed."

The outdoor area - which includes climbing walls and zip wires - was built 10 years ago

Mel says she used the centre's services as a child, as have many others from underserved families in Braunstone.

She says it is a "lifeline" for the community, adding: "We're making redundancies at Christmas to keep the place open for the future.

"It's one of the most deprived areas, the Braunstone estate. [The centre] is the only place that's supervised, it's all safe, the kids can come here, spend four hours per night, we feed them, can do extra activities, sports and art."

The council spokesperson added: "The adventure playground currently has free use of this building and the playground land, but we recognise it needs to be in good repair if it is to have a long-term use.

"The government recently announced significant Pride in Place funding for this area, and while we're still exploring how it'll work, it could be available for projects such as this."