Over the past ten years, the BC government has invested money into upgrading playground equipment for the province’s kids. The money has come as part of the Playground Equipment Program.
Now, a big chunk of those funds are coming to Gold River’s Ray Watkins Elementary.
The school will get $165,000 to build a new, accessible playground for its 100 students. Accessible playgrounds include things like ramps, soft ground cover, and transfer platforms. That way, even kids who need wheelchairs can play.
It isn’t only kids who need equipment like this. Accessible playgrounds started popping up on VanIsle around 2006. Then in 2007, new wheelchair-friendly equipment was installed at Saseenos Elementary. The town’s parents fundraised the money to build the playground because one student at the school used a wheelchair.
But it turned out some of the parents were also in wheelchairs. For the first time, they could get right into the playground with their children. It was magic.
The equipment is also good for grandparents and toddlers.
The province hopes to have the new playgrounds built around early 2022.
