Inside Thames Valley Adventure Playground: 'a kaleidoscope of opportunity'

Thames Valley Adventure Playground in Taplow has been a lifeline for adults and children with additional needs for more than 40 years. Chief reporter Adrian Williams took a tour around the site and spoke the passionate team running it.

TVAP is unique. It specialises in adventure play, which emphasises explorative, unstructured, self-directed, spontaneous outdoor fun.

It promotes taking managed risks and challenging oneself in a safe environment, connecting to nature across varied terrain, with modifiable structures and play areas.

All this is under the supervision of expert staff who can help facilitate play without directing it, helping build self-confidence for people who may otherwise lack agency.

Gary Warrington, head of charity at TVAP, said it can be tempting for the families of those with additional needs to ‘wrap them in cotton wool’ – and that often, their day is rigidly timed and structured.

The playground offers a much-needed break from all that, with stress-relieving activities that build cognitive, emotional, imaginative and social development.

“It shows parents that children can go and play – [they may fall but] they will get up again,” said Gary.

It is also a place for families and carers to fully relax, knowing their loved ones are safe.

^{Past shot of the playground.}

Equipment and facilities

TVAP has a raft of different areas in which to play, featuring a range of equipment often built by its dedicated staff themselves.

For families and carers, there is a cosy indoor cabin-style space with sweeping views across the lake, where the weary can grab a coffee and relax.

Meanwhile, TVAP’s staff will make sure any talented ‘escapologists’ are kept safe and happy within the enclosed and gated space.

Among its star attractions, the playground has an adapted zip wire to enable ‘even the most severely disabled person’ to enjoy the thrill of zooming down the 40-metre wire.

There is a wheelchair swing, crazy golf, adapted tricycles, a woodland-based climbing frame, outdoor sensory toys and a variety of places to climb, splash and get creative.

Meanwhile, its indoors spaces feature soft play and a music room. Playrooms are crammed with toy cars, train sets, building blocks, action figures, puzzles and all manner of games.

Visitors can make use of materials for arts and crafts, dressing up, a 'calm zone' and a bookable sensory room filled with soft, moving lighting.

It now also features a small den made up of a famed and prize winning teapot that raced in Cookham Dean’s famed Gravity Grand Prix in 2023, donated by Cookham Dean Primary School.

“It’s a kaleidoscope of opportunity,” said Chris Barrett, a TVAP trustee.

Nonetheless, despite being less than 10 minutes’ drive from Maidenhead train station, TVAP is ‘the best kept secret’ in the area – not by the charity’s choice.

“We’ve been around for 40 years and there are people in Maidenhead who have never heard of us,” said Chris.

It wants to be better known, so it can reach those people most in need of its services.

^{The teapot from the Grand Prix.}

What TVAP helps with

The playground already helps countless families, welcoming about 13,000 visitors a year.

Its impact is wide-reaching, helping loved ones fight back against isolation. When someone they care for is disabled, neurodiverse or has other additional needs, opportunities for socialisation can be lost, said Gary.

A child’s special needs school may be ‘miles away’ and school connections can be difficult, with parents not able to engage in the kind of school gate chatter other parents can expect.

TVAP offers a space for that, connecting people in the same boat.

Parents sometimes need a break from judging eyes. Autism is a ‘hidden’ disability at times and this can cause misunderstandings in public.

Though parents of youngsters with physical disabilities may receive compassion, people may perceive children with autism as simply ‘bad,’ when they are often simply trying to express themselves.

Much neurodivergent behaviour is about frustration, the team explained.

But at the playground, families are with experienced and like-minded people.

Though there is a voluntary charge for TVAP services, the charity tries to keep this as low as possible. This is a challenge, because it costs about £500,000 a year to run TVAP.

The team explained that this was predominantly due to staff costs. Because of the nature of what it does, it must have well-trained paid staff.

Chris added: “These facilities are incredibly costly and there aren't many of them – that's nationwide."

TVAP’s costs also cover its respite service, which offers a much-needed break for families.                                           

^{The soft play area.}

Respite service

TVAP will arrange for staff to provide full care for a child for five hours. Often this must be either one to one, or two staff to one child.

This care can include help with toileting, medication, and constant supervision – especially necessary if the child has, for example, epilepsy.

For parents, respite gives them a chance to do what they cannot otherwise, be it a vital shopping trip or spending quality time with their other children, who may often have to take second priority.

On top of these services, TVAP wants to become an ‘information hub’ for families, something which is ‘sorely lacking’ in the local area, said Chris.

TVAP will arrange for staff to provide full care for a child for five hours. Often this must be either one to one, or two staff to one child.

This care can include help with toileting, medication, and constant supervision – especially necessary if the child has, for example, epilepsy.

For parents, respite gives them a chance to do what they cannot otherwise, be it a vital shopping trip or spending quality time with their other children, who may often have to take second priority.

“It has a huge benefit for siblings,” said Gary. "It can be easy for families to fall [into the pattern of] siblings as carers."

^{Adapted tricycles.}

Information hub

On top of its existing services, TVAP wants to become an ‘information hub’ for families, something which is ‘sorely lacking’ in the local area, said Chris.

Speaking from personal experience, he said: “When parents first get the news that their child is neurodiverse, their first reaction is panic – they look for everything they can find.”

But it can be difficult to find information, he said – or to figure out what to do.

“So many families, certainly my family, felt like we were fighting the system,” said Chris.

The hub can show people the ways and means to navigate complex systems and signpost to key services.

By virtue of being somewhere parents already go, TVAP is uniquely positioned to reach out and offer a friendly ear.

Moreover, it naturally offers the opportunity for socialisation with others in the same boat, who due to their own experience, have become experts on the system.

TVAP thinks forming this information hub will cost about £35,000 – once again, because of staff costs. They believe they will need to hire the equivalent of 1.7 full time employees, who will both provide and gather information.

TVAP hopes a sympathetic business might consider sponsoring this endeavour, said Jim Wilks, TVAP’s new chair – given what the charity does for the community.

^{The sensory room.}

What TVAP offers the wider community

Since its inception, TVAP has brought people together.

In 1971, a small group started a ‘toy library’ for children with special needs in Cookham, later becoming permanently based at Highview, Mencap's home in Maidenhead.

During school holidays, the group started taking groups of members to visit the London Adventure Playgrounds – sparking a thirst to start their own.

After much time, effort, patience and resilience, Thames Valley Adventure Playground was born, and first opened its doors in 1982.

Over the years, it has been continually growing and building, fundraising and reaching out to the community.

TVAP offers excellent opportunities for volunteering, helping people build their skills for further advancing in the voluntary sector, should that be their goal.

It also offers good corporate social responsibility (CSR) options; company employees can visit to paint fences or conduct other work around the Playground, enjoying time away from the office in an attractive outdoor setting.

Schoolchildren can learn about individual differences, with children of all levels of ability mingling on the site. Brownies and Scout groups regularly make visits to TVAP.

One thing is for certain; facilities like TVAP will be needed for a long time to come.

“The founder [of TVAP] didn't think this kind of facility would be needed in 40 years, but it's the opposite,” said Chris. “There are more people being identified on the autism spectrum.”

Jim said: “We’re a centre of excellence in the area and Maidenhead should be proud of what we do.