Martin Luther King Adventure Playground takes up a whole corner of Paradise Park and is a special place just for children.
It is important that parents and carers understand that our playgrounds are not childcare services, they are play services. You should read more about this by following this link. Our open access adventure play service is for children aged 6 years and upwards. All of our playgrounds are free of charge.
Our friendly staff love meeting new children and welcoming old friends and there are a range of activities happening every day. At present Islington Play Association does not provide any childcare for children aged 6 and upwards.
MLK is named for the famous civil rights activist and it was set up with money from his foundation because it is a place where all children can play together in peace.
“Peace is not merely a distant goal that we seek, but a means by which we arrive at that goal.”
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
History:
In 1968 (the year of Martin Luther King’s assassination) this area of Islington was crowded and condemned; there were high levels of poverty and racial tension amongst local people. A parent group approached the Greater London Council to set up a temporary adventure playground here, on what was then a demolition site of 10 acres. It was the only open space for children to play on at the time and proved to be an instant success. As a result, the parent group were given a quarter acre space, including the disused Woodbine factory building on a permanent basis. Originally funded by The Martin Luther King Foundation and Christian Aid and later funded by Islington Council, the Adventure playground has welcomed generations of Islington’s children to play.
