About Papa's - Papa's Park

About Papa’s

Papa’s Park is a community-run, open access park in Brixton, South London. We are very proud of our happy, welcoming park, and our users have described it as “an oasis of green community space away from the bustle of Brixton town centre”.

Have a look at our Instagram and Facebook pages to see lots of photos of the park and its facilities.

Facilities

Papa’s Park is open 365 days a year, closing at dusk.

The park includes:

- a young children’s play area

- an age 7+ children’s play area

- a flood-lit all-weather sports pitch, which is used for football, basketball and netball

- an additional practice basketball hoop

- a café which is open 6 days a week, serving teas, coffees, hot food and Jamaican specialities

- 2 toilets which are open when the café is open (Tuesday to Saturday, 9am to 5pm)

- baby-changing table in one of the toilets

- a community hall which can be hired at low cost

Location and opening hours

Papa’s Park is based at 10-17 Pulross Road, Brixton, London, SW9 8AF. It’s a quiet street, a 2-minute walk from the Ferndale Road Post Office and a 3-minute walk from Brixton High Street.

The park opens by 10am (often earlier) and it closes once it gets dark. We are open 365 days of the year.

We lock and unlock the park via a small group of dedicated volunteers who take on opening and locking up duties for a week at a time. Please bear with us if we are occasionally later than we’d like to be when opening up the park.

From Tuesday to Sunday, when Papa’s Café is in operation, you can also access the park via the gate next to the café.

Papa’s Café and community hall

Papa’s Café is run by local residents Valcie and Hurley. It is open 9am to 5pm, Tuesday to Saturday, serving drinks, snacks, ice creams and delicious meals, often with a Jamaican twist. Find out more about the delicious food they serve.

Papa’s community hall is a low-cost community space. It has hosted everything from church groups and children’s parties to drumming groups and engagement celebrations. See the community hall page for more information.

Sports pitch hire

Papa’s Park has a flood-lit, all-weather sports pitch which can be used for football, basketball and netball. Most of the time, it is used by the local community for free. However, we do rent it out on weekday evenings.

We try to strike a balance between the pitch being open to the local community as much as possible, and the park making enough money to:

- maintain and repair the pitch

- replace the pitch when it comes to the end of its life

- contribute to the running costs of the park and keep the park gates open 365 days a year

For this reason, we hire out the sports pitch at times that have a minimal effect on the community who want to use it – ie after dark. Find out more about when the pitch is available and how to hire it.

How Papa’s started

In 1996, local residents banded together to save a derelict, council-run play area from being sold to developers. The residents formed the Pulross Area Play Association (PAPA), cleared the park of rubbish and applied for funding to install new play equipment.

The park has been a safe haven for children and their families in the area ever since.

In 2009, the Pulross Area Play Association turned into Papa’s Park Ltd – a small, local charity. The charity is run by local residents who give their time for free and work to ensure that the park remains open to the local community and free to use 365 days a year.

We now have a 10-strong voluntary committee that takes decisions about the park and fundraises to improve it. We are always looking for new members, and there’s lots you can do to help! Find out about the committee and how you could help.

Our vision, mission and values

Vision

To sustain a vibrant, safe and inclusive space where everyone can play, connect and thrive.

Mission

We will invest in our facilities to ensure the park is as financially self-sufficient as possible, improving our spaces and facilities for play, sport and social activities and bringing people of all ages and backgrounds together. We will enable an environment where people can build healthier, happier and more connected communities.

Values

Connection: We believe in the positive power of people coming together. Our volunteer run space fosters connection, conversation, and collaboration among people from all walks of life.

Inclusion: We celebrate the amazing diversity of Brixton, London and beyond and provide facilities that ensure everyone is welcomed and has an equal opportunity to thrive.

Joy: Fun and play are at the heart of everything we do. We offer a space and events that encourage everyone to relax and take the time to enjoy themselves.

Sustainability: We are committed to maintaining and growing our park in a way that minimizes our environmental impact but maximizes our financial self-sufficiency, ensuring its longevity for future generations.

Future plans

Since statutory funding from Lambeth was removed in 2017, our completely volunteer-led charity has managed to raise money to replace the children’s play area in 2018, and then replace the sports pitch in 2019.

We would now love to do something about our community building that houses the café, hall and toilets. This building is coming to the end of its 25-year lifespan, and showing its age. We would love to replace it with a building that is a third bigger, lighter, warmer and more energy efficient.

We have designs for a fantastic new building, and planning permission has been granted by the local council. We have already raised an incredible £125,000, but we still need to raise £325,000 to make it happen.

Find out more about our plans for the development of the hall and help us reach our goal by donating. You can also download our pre-application architectural plans .