'My disabled son can now play with his brothers'

A seven-year-old boy can now play at his local park after his mum campaigned to have accessible equipment installed.

Rupert, who was born with a severe mental disability and uses a wheelchair, was unable to join his brothers to play at Hay Fields estate playground in Rainworth, Nottinghamshire.

In 2024, his mother Mollie called on local authorities to install inclusive play equipment.

In October last year the park was kitted out for children with disabilities, and Mollie said Rupert, whose condition is still under investigation, "absolutely loved it".

The family were visiting a park elsewhere in the county when they first discovered an accessible swing that was suitable for Rupert.

Mollie, 27, said: "It kind of just clicked. How the heck had we not seen anything like this before?"

The only places she had seen accessible play equipment were at much larger parks.

"It was awful because we also have two non-disabled children as well and it's horrible taking Rupert to a park where two of his brothers get to play and he has to sit there in his wheelchair," said Mollie.

The family's local playground was a two-minute walk away but it was a 20-minute drive to get to the nearest playground where Rupert was able to get involved.

After raising concerns with Labour MP for Sherwood Forest, Michelle Welsh, Mollie was contacted by Newark and Sherwood District councillor Claire Penny, who helped bring the mother's vision to fruition.

Mollie started a crowdfunding campaign, while Penny successfully applied for a capital grant from Nottinghamshire County Council to help Rainworth Parish Council - the custodian of the park - pay for the new equipment.

Now the playground has an accessible roundabout and two sensory playboards.

Not only was the equipment accessible, it was inclusive, which meant Rupert did not have to play separately from his brother or other children.

Mollie said: "It was nice just to be able to walk to somewhere where all our kids can play together.

"If it's in our local area it means we can meet other families. Hopefully we can get more of a network of parents together.

"It is extremely lonely having a disabled child because nobody gets it unless they have a disabled child."

Mollie said she was grateful to everyone involved in the project and wanted to see change across the country in any new park being built.

Campaigner Rebecca Madden launched PiPA Play, a community interest company, to help educate authorities and designing and creating playgrounds that are as accessible and inclusive as possible.

She previously campaigned alongside disability charity Scope, to shed light on the lack of accessible playgrounds across the country.

Like Mollie, Rebecca is also a mother to three boys, one who is disabled.

She told the BBC: "As [my son] got older we finally realised that we live in such an inaccessible world," she said.

"It's a huge issue. It's absolutely huge.

"There are some councils and some parts of the UK that are really trying to make a big difference but the way I look at it, it's still very tokenistic.

"The biggest message that portrays [that] is that when we design a play park that is accessible and inclusive it is something that is above and beyond what we all should be doing - actually it's not. It should be a given."

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