Children at Shiremoor Adventure Playground build a boat in a week and are taking it on the Tyne!

Back in 2020, plans were put in motion to acknowledge 10 years of Shiremoor Adventure Playground, owned and managed by North Tyneside Council and supported by Shiremoor Adventure Playground Trust.

The trust successfully raised funds for a number of projects to take place for the celebration, all centred around activities of interest to the children who use the playground and the ethos of adventure play.

As we all know too well, COVID-19 arrived, and the world paused. But this week a very exciting project is taking place to mark the now 12 year milestone.  

With funding from the James Knott Trust, starting on Monday 6 June 2022, children are spending their time after school Monday to Friday, and most of Saturday, building a boat which they will then sail down the Tyne on Sunday (12 June 2022).

Experienced boat builder, Andi McGarry, from Ireland is on site to lead the construction and the children have been learning all sorts of practical and active skills. They’ve also been demonstrating their swimming abilities in order to take part in Sunday’s sail from Derwenthaugh Marina down the Tyne to the Quayside.

Between building and swimming it’s been a very active project!

The children participating on Sunday will be in buoyancy aids and the boat (and those on it) will be supported by two accompanying vessels, all of which will be visible from the bridges over the river.

Shiremoor Adventure Playground is the only staffed adventure playground in the North East making it even more important to celebrate and recognise the value it brings to families in North Tyneside.

The build-a-boat project will offer so many benefits to the children participating, as well as giving them a memory which will last a lifetime.

Celebrations will continue through the summer, with a raku pottery project and the Wheel Deal, a project aimed at introducing more children to the playground, as well as cycling and bike maintenance sessions.