It’s been a little while since our last update—but that’s only because 2025 has been a very busy year for Friends of Grenoside Park (FOGP)!

We’re excited to share that after a lot of behind-the-scenes work, Sheffield City Council has now assigned a dedicated project officer to Grenoside Playground. This is a big step forward—it means we now have a direct point of contact at the council whose job it is to help drive the project ahead.

As many of you know, the draft playground plans (first drawn up last summer) can’t just be implemented right away—they need to go through several council committees for formal approval. Up until now, we couldn't move them forward ourselves, as that required an official project officer. Now that we have one on board, the process is finally rolling.

Where are we now?

We’re pleased to say there’s finally momentum! We’re hopeful the plans will get the final green light later this summer. Once that happens, we can kick-start the major fundraising efforts for the new and improved playground. It’s been a long road, but we really hope you’ll begin to see exciting changes soon.

Did you attend the LAC meeting on 30th April?

Some of you may have already seen the playground plans there. We were hoping the meeting would be a great opportunity to share them more widely. Unfortunately, just days before, The Star published a piece about developments on greenbelt land in S35—which, understandably, dominated the conversation that evening.

Come see the Phase one of the plans at the Grenoside Gala – 21st June!

We’re still keen to show them off! Come find us at our stall at the Grenoside Gala on Saturday 21st June. We’ll have the plans on display and will be there to chat, answer questions, and hear your thoughts. We’d love to see you there.

A note about the zipwire…

It’s been fantastic to see the zipwire getting so much use since it was installed last summer. Unfortunately, we’ve had two incidents of vandalism to the seat. The first time, it was damaged beyond use and had to be replaced (thankfully, we had budgeted for a spare). After the second incident, we’re not sure if the council has assessed the damage yet—but if they decide it’s unsafe again, we don’t currently have another replacement seat or the funds to buy one.

If that happens, the zipwire could be taken out of action—just a year after it was installed. We’re really hoping it doesn’t come to that, and we ask everyone to help us look after it so that everyone can continue to enjoy it.

Thank you for your ongoing support!

Despite the odd setback, it’s been brilliant to see how much the community values and respects the park improvements. Watch the video below to see where we started and how much we have achieved in a short space of time. We are very excited about the next phases.

We’re so grateful for your continued support, and with a bit of luck, we’ll have even more exciting news to share soon. The Friends of Grenoside Park Team