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About Papa's
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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.
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Facilities
Papa’s Park is open 365 days a year, closing at dusk.
The park includes:
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a young children's play area
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an age 7+ children's play area
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a flood-lit all-weather sports pitch, which is used for football, basketball and netball
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an additional practice basketball hoop
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a café which is open 6 days a week, serving teas, coffees, hot food and Jamaican specialities
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2 toilets which are open when the café is open (Tuesday to Saturday, 9am to 5pm)
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baby-changing table in one of the toilets
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a community hall which can be hired at low cost
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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.
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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.
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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:
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maintain and repair the pitch
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replace the pitch when it comes to the end of its life
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contribute to the running costs of the park and keep the park gates open 365 days a year
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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.
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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.