Mad about The Madoch Centre

I don’t often get excited about a new playpark opening, mainly because a) I’m trying to pretend I have a life and b) It doesn’t happen very often.

The Perthshire mummy jungle drums have been quietly beating over the last couple of weeks since The Madoch Centre in St Madoes opened their doors, so Freya and I went on a fact finding mission this week to find out what all the fuss was about….and boy were we impressed! We travelled out the Dundee road and just 8 minutes after we crossed the bridge arrived at this state of the art centre, built by local company Algo, which includes a brand spanking new soft play area, artificial grass outdoor playpark and a bright spacious café.

The centre is open Monday to Friday 10am-4.30pm, with the soft play and café being available until 3.30pm on those days. It’s completely free to use, although there is a wee box where they suggest a £1 donation for use of the soft play. We dumped our bags, kicked off our shoes and quite literally dived into the ball pit. The two storey soft play is for under 5’s only, and they limit the capacity to 15 children, although on the day we went there were only ever a couple of others in there.

As well as the ball pit you’ll find all the usual suspects – a slide, trampoline, hurdles to climb over/under, a foam ladder and the ever popular big foam cylinders that swing from the ceiling and knock you over if you aren’t quick enough! The soft play area can also be hired out as part of a party package.

GALLERY

I had heard there was an outdoor play area before I went, but had no idea it would be a huge patch of artificial grass, making it suitable in pretty much all weathers. The park has been funded jointly by PKC, Scotrail Cultural Fund, Tesco Groundworks and the Gordon Fraser Charitable Trust. It’s big, bold and exciting! The main feature is a two tower castle structure with connecting rope bridge, slide, drawbridge climb, cargo net, and fireman’s pole for a stylish dismount.

There’s also a brilliant wooden train, platform with a bucket pulley and a super cool workbench area which quite frankly I thought I’d never get Freya away from (who’d have thought a toy chainsaw would be going on the list for Santa this year?). The park has been specifically designed with young children in mind, with low level equipment making it possible to climb, play and use their imagination safely. There’s a brilliant selection of easy rider style retro trikes, balance bikes and safety helmets in the play area, as well as a paved path the whole way around to ride them on.

The in-house ‘Café Connect’ is run as a social enterprise, which means that any profits are returned for the good of the community.  As well as serving great coffee, tea, and home baking (we shared a delicious slab of shortbread!) it’s also a bright spacious space to meet others, with plenty of room for buggies and fantastic changing facilities.

It’s fully accessible for prams, wheelchairs or anyone with mobility problems, and there’s even an ‘Accessible Garden’ space outside. Funded by the People’s Postcode Lottery, the garden area has planters which have either been raised or have a wheelchair recess.

The centre itself is run by St Madoes and Kinfauns Parish Church who set out with a vision to provide somewhere for the benefit of residents, the wider community and the local church. They’ve turned their dreams into a reality by relentless fundraising efforts over the last couple of years, and the support of generous Trusts, Funders and donators.

When we arrived we bumped into my friend and her 2 year old who as locals have already become regulars. One of the most uttered phrases I heard all day from other parents was “I can’t believe we have this on our doorstep – it’s amazing!”, and they’re not wrong. Real thought, time, energy and money has gone into making this place somewhere that will meet a modern community’s needs and stand the test of time. We can’t wait to go back.

Tell your friends, tell the grandparents, tell your childminders…they’ll all love it!

For contact details and more information about The Madoch Centre visit their website>

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