Barratt and David Wilson Homes North East has teamed up with North East disability charity The Percy Hedley Foundation to help design and create more inclusive and accessible playgrounds for children.
Students from Percy Hedley School in Killingworth and Northern Counties School in Jesmond, both part of the Percy Hedley Foundation, were invited to visit two playgrounds in Morpeth on Barratt and David Wilson Homes, where they were asked to evaluate the accessibility and share their thoughts on potential improvements. This hands-on approach allowed the students to offer actionable feedback on how their existing playgrounds serve individuals with disabilities.
This week, the students visited the Barratt Homes offices in Gateshead to present their findings. Their feedback was invaluable, celebrating elements such as the swings whilst offering useful recommendations to improve future playground design. Key suggestions included making more user-friendly pathways, adding wheelchair-friendly roundabouts, and incorporating more sensory elements into upcoming developments.
Barratt and David Wilson Homes’ Planning and Development Directors were eager to hear the student’s thoughts, engaging in a meaningful dialogue about how to improve playground accessibility and create more inclusive spaces for communities.
“Our continued work with Percy Hedley is hugely important to us, as it is one that sits very close to our hearts. We’re thrilled to be working with the students again, especially on a project which truly allows their creativity to shine such as this one. We were very impressed with their thorough evaluation, which has given us really valuable insight to move forward with as we look to improve future playground accessibility and design.
Carl Sobolewski, Managing Director of Barratt and David Wilson Homes North East
“We’re excited to see the students’ designs come to life further down the line, and we look forward to our continued work with the talented students and team at Percy Hedley.”
This collaboration builds on Barratt Homes’ previous work with The Percy Hedley Foundation, including the creation of an inclusive room in its Old Durham Gate Show Home in Durham and offering work placements for two students to bolster their employability skills.
“Our longstanding partnership with Barratt Homes has been invaluable in empowering our students to contribute to the creation of more inclusive spaces for all from concept to build. They thoroughly enjoyed the opportunity to present their feedback to Barratt Homes’ directors, and we’re excited to see more playgrounds developed that are accessible to every child.”
John Preston, CEO of The Percy Hedley Foundation shared his reflections on the collaboration
To find out more information about Barratt and David Wilson Homes North East developments across the region, please visit https://www.barratthomes.co.uk/new-homes/north-east/ for Barratt Homes and https://www.dwh.co.uk/new-homes/north-east/ for David Wilson Homes.
