By Callum Ludwig
The Brushy Play Space at the ADRA Redwood Community Centre is open and providing a perfect space for playtime.
Perfect for wet or cold days, the play space was opened to give kids and parents a place to play indoors in Warburton without having to go down the line or host in their own homes.
Manager of the ADRA Redwood Community Centre Kate Barratt said families had been telling her they didn’t have somewhere out of weather, safe and affordable to go to.
“There’s play centres down the line, but they’re expensive and so far away, so we created this o we created this with the funding from the Regional Community Recovery Grants and then had also been to the bank for funding for the parents retreat area,” she said.
“The kids are enjoying having something new and different to play with, they love the freedom of this place and the fact that we’ve done a lot of matching play areas, such as the dress-ups, the covering and the little cafe area.”
A hopscotch mat, a play cafe, a cubby, a train set and a miniature climbing set and slide are all on offer for kids while parents can enjoy the couches and free tea and coffee.
Ms Barratt said it’s absolutely vital for kids and parents alike.
“Especially since Covid, we’ve got kids growing up that aren’t used to socialising,” he said.
“Parents didn’t have that opportunity to join things like parents’ groups when their kids were little, so to have this now as an opportunity for them to socialise is just vital.”
The Brushy Play Space is open during the Redwood Centre’s current opening hours of 10am to 2pm Monday, Tuesday and Thursday but hopes to expand in the future to be open after school hours and potentially on Sundays.
Ella-May Watts is a local mum who runs a kindy group upstairs in the Redwood Centre and said they absolutely love it and use it every week.
“The kids come down here for their lunch play break, so we use it an hour every week without fail and it’s fantastic, it’s so clean and simple and pretty,” he said.
“Especially if you’re not doing mainstream kinder, so for us that was a big deal, because we’re not doing full-time, none of us have something that’s available to everyone, so it is really nice.”
The Redwood Centre is seeking volunteers to come on board and help monitor and supervise Brushy’s Play Space so it can be opened up outside of the usual Redwood Centre opening hours.
Ms Watts said she thinkd it’s a nice opportunity for mums to meet each other as well.
“There’s a lack of places to meet up where there’s no one hosting, usually it has to be either a pre-existing mother’s group or a kindie setting whereas this is very much where they can sit over there together and watch while the kids play,” she said.
“There’s not that much that you have to pack up at the end of this as well, which is nice, it takes us two minutes.”
Directors on the Board of the Upper Yarra Community Enterprise, which runs the Community Banks at Warburton and Yarra Junction, Neil Jorgensen and Elizabeth Fox also visited to see what their grant was available to provide in the space.
Mr Jorgensen said they are always looking for community projects to support and they were happy to support the Redwood Centre which does a great job.
“It provides a venue for a lot of the younger kids to come in and play and enjoy and socialise and learn with each other so there are a lot of positives for it,” he said.
