Parents, staff and union members took their protest to the Town Hall on Wednesday

PARENTS and staff have urged Islington Council to step in and save the Islington Play Association (IPA), as they staged a protest picnic outside the Town Hall on Wednesday.
Dozens of parents, staff and members of the GMB Union took to the courtyard outside the Town Hall with banners and placards to campaign against the closure of IPA and the Paradise Park Nursery.

It was announced last week that the 55-year-old charity, which runs Paradise Park Nursery and four adventure play­grounds across the borough, would be closing at the end of the summer term. Twenty-nine of its staff have been told of impending redundancy, and the nursery is likely to close on July 22.

Islington Council have suggested they were blindsided by the trustees’ decision and that they were “extremely disappointed” in the leadership’s actions. The Town Hall said they were ordered by the charity’s trustees to close the organisation due to persistent financial difficulties.

IPA’s trustees denied this in a retaliatory statement, claiming “the suggestion to close the charity did not come from the trustees”.

The Tribune understands that the council have been aware of the charity’s ongoing financial issues as far back as August 2024, and met with the trustees in November about a possible closure.

Kerry O’Connor, who has worked with IPA for 20 years, said staff were “really disappointed” they had not been told at the time about the forth­coming closure. She said: “We are frontline workers and throughout this whole time we have been kept in the dark whilst the trustees met with the council and decided our fate.”

Other staff from IPA told the Tribune that the most likely outcome suggested by councillors was for IPA’s adventure play­grounds to be sold to Awesome, a CIC organi­sation contrac­ted by the council to run other adventure play­grounds in the borough.

It is understood that this deal will not affect the closure of Paradise Park Nursery, which will then fall into the council’s hands.

Lauren Bennet, an IPA adventure playground manager since 2020, said: “Basically what we’re trying to do is make sure that the playgrounds and services can stay open and run for free.

Kerry O’Connor: ‘We are frontline workers and we have been left in the dark’

“The current plan that the councillors are talking about is selling us off to another CIC [community interest company], where they charge £5 a day for the kids to have lunch. And we don’t want that. We have been told that if that happens, we will have to reapply for our jobs with Awesome.

“At the moment, we provide free food, we have a food bank, all the kids eat for free. We’ve got kids here that are living on the breadline. Most of them in poverty.

“We feel these trustees have failed this organisation and they have kept us in the dark, but we want to fight to save it.”

Parents of children at the nursery have said that communi­cation from both IPA’s trustees and the council was “vague and contradictory”.

Jonny Singer, whose two-year-old daughter attends Paradise Park Nursery, is part of a working group of parents who have mobilised to prevent IPA’s closure. A petition they launched calling for a pause on the closure has been signed by over 3,500 people.

He said: “We want to work with IPA, we want to work with Islington Council. We want solutions, not struggles. Our number one priority at the moment is to keep the services open.”

A statement released from the Islington Play Association trustees said: “The trustees are considering all strategic options for the charity and working hard to minimise disruption to staff, families and children.

“The charity continues to deliver nursery and playground services at present, and further updates will be provided in due course. To correct several of the factual inaccuracies and to dispute claims levied against the charity and its trustees: the suggestion to close the nursery services did not originate from the trustees.

“Allegations of financial mismanagement are also unfounded.”

Cllr Una O’Halloran, leader of Islington Council, said: “As a mother myself, I know how vitally important childcare facilities are for families. That’s why I sympathise with each and every family that has been affected by Islington Play Association’s decision to cease delivering a nursery at Paradise Park Children’s Centre.

“Our priority is the wellbeing of children and ensuring continuity of high-quality provision for them and their families. Council officers and our Family Information Service have proactively contacted all 49 families to fully understand the provision they require and find alternatives.

“We know that this is a particularly uncertain time for families with children that have additional needs, who have come to rely on Paradise Park nursery. We’re working hard to provide those families with an offer that meets their needs. We have offered to sit down with parents and campaigners next week to discuss potential solutions, and will be in touch with them directly.”