Children who use wheelchairs can now get into the swing of things at two Liverpool parks.
Special wheelchair swings have been installed at the playgrounds in Croxteth Country Park and Sefton Park.
The swings are designed so that the whole wheelchair is attached to the swing, removing the need for lifting and transferring the users.
Additional work has also been carried out to extend and adapt the play areas to ensure that children can use the special swings alongside their friends on the conventional versions.
The £40,000 cost of the project, which includes safety railings, has been funded through the government’s Short Breaks initiative
Councillor Tim Moore, cabinet member for transport and climate change, said: “We want our parks to be available to all and for everybody to able to use all the facilities there. Yet for too many disabled children the simple pleasure of using a swing, which should be part of everybody’s childhood, has been denied and we now correcting that.”
And Councillor Peter Mitchell, Mayoral Lead on parks and open spaces said; “The new swings are an important part of a programme of improvements for disabled people in our parks so that they provide better access and greater enjoyment.”
Feedback from a recent consultation on this issue included the following comment: “I am so glad that at last people have thought about disabled children who, like all children, want to enjoy themselves” (Joan Melling, Walton)
The improvement programme has also included the introduction in three parks of ‘high-dependency’ specialised ‘Changing Rooms’ toilets, improved access at a number of parks and a Sensory Garden at Calderstones Park.
