Triangle Adventure Playground in Lambeth has been the Community Partner charity of Berkeley St Edward since 2020. To mark the end of the partnership, Hannah Lourey, Foundation Champion at BSE, writes about the impact the last four years has had on the playground.
“3, 2, 1… Go!!!”
Fifty kids spill out across around the playground, searching high and low for the 500 Easter eggs we’ve planted. It’s another volunteer day with Triangle. Highlights so far have included arts and crafts, Easter bingo, piñatas and plenty of lollies for the kids.
As usual, it’s been a wonderful day filled with laughter and energy, but also a bitter-sweet moment as we draw to the end of our four-year partnership with them.
We started working with Triangle in 2020, just as covid hit. It was a strange and uncertain time with children not being able to access the playground. Triangle jumped into action and moved all play online, helping maintain a sense of normality and social contact. Our funding during this time was a lifeline, helping them distribute play packs and computer tablets to those who needed them the most.
Since then, we have donated £250,000 to the Triangle through staff fundraising and grants from the Berkeley Foundation. This has enabled the Triangle to plan for a long-term future with expansion of their capital projects, such as installing electricity for the first time and a much-needed new zip line play structure.
We have also been able to use our skills and staff volunteering to help Triangle in other ways. Our planning teams have provided advice on leases, our build teams have hosted pancake days in our canteen and our office staff have got stuck in, giving the playground an annual refresh and coat of paint. It’s been fantastic to see everyone getting involved.
We’ve had some amazing fundraising events, with people taking on the Yorkshire Three Peaks Challenge, the Vienna to Prague cycle, marathons and a whole load more. It’s been a great excuse to enjoy one too many cakes at our bake sales! Staff have really enjoyed getting behind the Triangle and seeing the impact they’ve been able to make.
As we draw to the end of the partnership, it’s more of a ‘see you later’ than ‘goodbye.’ It’s been amazing to collaborate with Jon and Gabriel to ensure great outcomes for the playground and the kids. Their dedication and perseverance is truly admirable. Berkeley St Edward is still in the area for a long time with Oval Village, so we’ll keep in touch with the Triangle and we’ve even already made plans to host their next pancake day.
Read more about the partnership here.