Hornimans has been around since the 1960’s, the playground was set up unofficially by local parents in 1969, a time when the use of junk, corrugated iron sheets and scrap wood were order of the day.  Hornimans is a charity 802220 and we are part funded by the borough of RBK&C and also other funders.  These bodies provide us with the funding to be able to run Hornimans as a free, safe play space for children and young people aged 5 - 16 years.  We welcome donations and are often seen fundraising with cake sales, lolly selling as well as (at the moment) the children and play workers latest efforts, Hornimans Music CD - with songs written and performed by our children. 

The playground is run by a staff team of playworkers.  Lorna - Senior play worker, Gary, Tony and Pierre play workers with different responsibilities such as sport, tuck, music and drama.  We have some great sessional play workers who fill in when we need them, during summer periods and who also bring some unique skills to the playground, such as music production and drama and amazing volunteers, Amar, Yasmin who give their time free to support the playground.  All playworkers are qualified and are trained. 

We have a large, spacious outdoor adventure playground, with large wooden play structures, some of which were replaced and funded by the Play Path Finder fund a few years ago.

We have a ground floor building which has one large main hall, art room, office, store room, computer design/music room, toilets and a disabled toilet with shower. We also have a bright and cheerful kitchen where many a cooking clubs takes place during the holiday periods and also a daily tuck shop run by Tuck Shop Tony.

At the back of the building there is a quiet garden with an area we are at present re establishing as a nature area, filling the pond with oxygenating plants.  During the summer months we will be starting a grow it Youself project with a volunteer who is keen to show children how to grow their own vegetables.

Directly outside the building we have a small concrete play area where the children can play games such as Champ, badminton, table tennis and volleyball. We have access to a sports pitch which forms part of Hornimans Pleasance park which we use for dodgeball, cricket and tennis.

Hornimans provides our children with an opportunity to learn and develop in their own time, in a play space where they are cared for by playworkers who enjoy their work.  Offering planned activities/workshops in arts and crafts, sport, cooking, drama and music, alongside free play.  Our environment encourages the children to build self confidence, to embrace different cultures, test their abilities and by just being here and playing with other children they learn how to share, to negotiate, how to be tolerant, and of course, how to have fun.

Our activities take into consideration inclusion and mixed ability levels of our children and are flexible enough to understand as play workers that for a child to develop at their own pace and feel justly proud of personal achievements made, they have to know they’re supported and cared for.

The Senior is in the office from 11am, Admin & Finance worker from 10am.  From 3,30pm during term times.  The office phone is for playground business and we don't appreciate sales calls.  The playground answer machine is on when the staff are on the playground, one of the staff team will get back to you as soon as we can. The office phone and answer machine is NOT for leaving messages for your children unless it is really important.

All children must be registered to be able to use the playground. and your child MUST be aged 5 yrs from the 1st September (Ofsted call this a rising 5) following their fifth birthday to register here.   If you pop into the playground one of the play work team will give you a registration form to fill in, these are not handed to children. This must be signed by the legal guardian of the child/ren.  Please make sure you come to the playground with them to register.  It's nice for staff to meet the parents and to ensure that you know where your child is and with who they are being supervised by whilst on site.

All photographs on this web site are used with permission of parents.

Charity Number: 802220