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Oldest swingers in town: £40,000 playground for pensioners in Hyde Park
Ruth Bloomfield9 Feb 2010
London is to get its first “pensioners' playground” in the heart of Hyde Park after approval was given for an outdoor gym for the over-sixties.
Westminster council agreed to plans for the £40,000 facility, with fitness equipment designed to provide gentle but effective exercise.
The playground will have a cross-trainer, body-flexer, free runner, sit-up bench, flex wheel and exercise bike.
Play areas for older people are popular in China and parts of Europe, but this is the first of its kind in London.
Madeline Elsdon, a spokeswoman for the Knightsbridge Association, which first came up with the idea, said: “In the UK there are now more pensioners than children, but there are few facilities for them in our parks.
“We proposed the playground because many older people find indoor gyms intimidating and expensive and therefore aren't exercising enough. We also hope the playground will encourage users to socialise and have fun together. People are never too old to play.”
The equipment will be free to use and will be set up in a 125 square-metre site at the park's tennis and bowls centre.
While the under-sixties will not be banned from joining in the fun, the playground will be clearly signposted Hyde Park Senior Playground.
The first pensioners' playground in Europe opened in Berlin in 2008. It was designed by Renate Zeumer, an engineer who noticed older people in China using simple pieces of government-provided equipment to exercise in parks, on streets and in subway stations.
A playground for the elderly opened in Manchester in the same year.
Councillor Lee Rowley, Westminster's communities chief, said: “Exercise isn't just for young people — older residents should have the opportunity to get fit and active as well. This will be a great new facility in Westminster and will be enjoyed by the thousands of people who visit Hyde Park every day.”
The Royal Parks Agency, which manages Hyde Park, also backs the project. Chief executive Mark Camley said: “For those who want to get fit in the great outdoors, you can't do better than the Royal Parks for idyllic locations.
"We believe that this new facility will inspire many people to take exercise and have fun while they're doing it.”
Work on the playground begins next month and it is due to open in spring.
Reader views (7)
I have been thinking about this facility for elders for quite some time. My idea was for an indoor play area, much the same as for children. It is essential to have fun at any age, including dancing and singing.
- D.Turner, Torquay, 27/02/2010 17:08
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Very interesting that the UK is waking up to helping older people to exercise. We have these exercise parks in Spain and there are plans to put them all over the country wherever there is a small vacant plot. They should be local and easily accessible. Gyms are expensive and not really suitable for the over 65's this type of exercise area is a real plus and more should be put up asap. I just wonder how long they will last though. The British yobbo element will no doubt vandalize them soon. In Spain it is very rare to find this problem.There is more respect for public and private property
- Tony Dean, Rojales, Spain, 10/02/2010 12:32
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So we'll get gangs of hoodie pensioners hanging round the parks now, swigging ovaltine and performing doughnuts with their souped up mobility scooters while they play Radio 4 at full volume!
Good idea - just hope people use it.
- Doug, Banet, 10/02/2010 09:23
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Wow! I'd like to see one here in King's Lynn.
- Judith, KIng's Lynn, Norfolk, UK, 10/02/2010 02:01
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As a kid, I'd regularly see older people out in London's parks. These days you see very, very few. I suspect it might have something to do with not feeling secure. It's not right that older people, especially if they are a bigger group than children now, feel they have to live shut indoors.
I think this is a great idea, and hope many more centres and parks in Britain take it up. Just look at pre-war film footage to realise how much Britons lived a lot of their lives outdoors. For children and old people to live locked indoors as they do now, is entirely a new way of life in this country.
I reckon that if there are areas in parks where older people are made to feel welcome, that will encourage a lot to go along. Britons now have no hesitation in displaying their antics with karaoke and the Wii electronic games. I think it will take only a few adventurous and playful souls to get others joining in at the Senior Cit parks. If people feel that they can congregate safely in a park area, then it's also got to be a plus that they get the exercise of walking to the parks as well.
- Ben, London, 09/02/2010 16:52
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I think the health & safety brigade will shut this down soon.
- Simon, East ham, 09/02/2010 13:17
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The Chinese and Japanese have a culture of exercising in public, the British don't. No self respecting person over the age of 60 will want to use this. It'll soon go the way of those expensive skateboard parks that Councils insisted we needed.
- Paul, Rochester, 09/02/2010 10:44
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