Thumbs up for pensioners’ playground

BRITAIN’S first “pensioners’ playground” opened yesterday with one elderly user declaring it made her “feel 21 again”.

The £15,000 (€20,000) outdoor facility in Dam Head Park, Blackley, Greater Manchester, features six pieces of fitness equipment designed specifically to provide gentle exercise for the over-60s.

It marks the end of a two-year quest by the Dam Head Residents’ Association to find the perfect leisure facilities for their older members. Located between a children’s playground and a multi-sports pitch, it has equipment to work the upper body, legs and hips.

Association chairman Joan Fitzgerald, 76, said the idea had come about after one of the members had seen a newspaper article about a similar project in Germany.

“It is all about health and fitness,” she said. “A lot of older people don’t want to go to gyms.

“The equipment is great. It is laugh-a-minute. If it makes people laugh and there is exercise involved, then how can it be a bad thing? Laughter is the best medicine in the world.”

As residents got to grips with the equipment, there was universal approval.

Peggy Yuill, 74, said: “It makes you feel 21 again. Makes you feel good and gives you a real buzz.”

Ms Fitzgerald dismissed concerns about potential vandalism of the playground, saying the children’s version has been installed for four years without any problems.