Becky Maddern

As a parent to a child with profound disabilities, I have first-hand experience of the barriers that can prevent children from accessing and feeling included in their local communities. This lived experience has driven my passion for creating meaningful societal change. My work is not based solely on my own family’s experiences, but on the experiences of the many families I have met and listened to along the way.
For the past eight years, I have campaigned to challenge the way stakeholders think about playground design. My work focuses on educating and sharing knowledge around the many factors that contribute to the successful design of an accessible and inclusive play space.
This is not about explaining why inclusive play spaces are important, that should be obvious. It is about understanding how to create them successfully and recognising the impact we have when we see inclusion as an extra or take a tokenistic approach.
Because a playground should never be a place where a child feels they don’t belong, it should be a place where every child knows they do.