NEW Outdoor playground ready for take-off
Published on: 26 April 2021
Following months of closure, the Royal Air Force Museum Midlands is preparing to reopen its doors to visitors on Monday 17 May, with the addition of a brand-new family friendly outdoor interactive area. Families visiting the Museum will have the added excitement of an RAF themed playground to explore, along with huge hangars packed full of aircraft.
The Museum has used the closure period to complete work on the outdoor playground, designed to introduce its youngest visitors to the RAF, by inspiring and engaging with them through play. Children and young people who dream of becoming pilots and ground crew alike, can roleplay as they delve into the new bespoke airfield-inspired playground, complete with a mock control tower, mini hangar and even aircraft to climb onboard.
The new playground will offer an interactive RAF experience like no other, from physical training instructor stations, air traffic control, through to refuelling missions. Packed full of interactive activities including audio posts and playful information panels, children and young people can learn about the RAF while they play. Of course, no playground would be complete without a slide and climbing frame, these features have been incorporated into the bespoke Handley Page Victor.
RAF Museum Head of Major Projects and Programmes, Vicky Millward said:
‘We are delighted to finally reveal our brand-new outdoor play area, and we hope it will prove popular with the thousands of families and school children who visit us each year. The playground features a Victor and Vulcan cockpit, inspired by the real aircraft on display at Cosford. We also took inspiration from the airfield next door to us at the Museum and worked closely with our friends at RAF Cosford to create a playground experience that reflects some of the training personnel go through, in a fun interactive manor.’
Part of the funding for the new play area was raised by a team of RAF Museum Trustee’s, led by Nick Sanders, who completed a fundraising walk in 2019 raising thousands towards the new facilities for young families visiting Cosford.
If you would like to bring along your ‘mad about planes’ children and young people to the Museum and enjoy this unique, flight themed experience, you won’t have long to wait, as the new outdoor playground will be open seven days a week from 17 May. Conveniently located just outside the restaurant, with outdoor seating available, parents can enjoy relaxing with a coffee while the children play.
From Monday 17 May the Museum will open daily from 10.00am to 5.00pm, with a range of measures in place to ensure a safe and great day out for the whole family. While still offering FREE entry to all, visitors are kindly asked to pre-book their arrival time online at rafmuseum.org.
View a time-lapse video showing how the new playground was built: