22nd March 2026

Thank You for Today’s Campaign in Woolwich Dockyard! 

A big thank you to everyone who joined today’s campaign in Woolwich Dockyard. Your time, energy and commitment to speaking with residents and delivering leaflets is truly appreciated.

It was great to meet near the Adventure Play Centre at Rosario Munch Restaurant, and special thanks to Rajendra Shahi for helping us organise before we set off for leafletting.

Your support is helping us build a strong, community-led campaign. 🙏
 
 

10th March 2026

Standing for Change in Greenwich – Local Council Election, 7th May 2026 

Dear friends, neighbours, and community members,

I have now decided to stand in the local council election on 7th May as an Independent Socialist and community candidate for Woolwich Dockyard. I have taken this step because I am deeply disappointed with the Labour-controlled council’s response to the voices of local people—from Adventure Playgrounds to housing development. Too often, it feels like communities are taken for granted as voting banks while genuine concerns in Woolwich Dockyard are ignored.

I have lived in Greenwich for over 15 years and have been actively involved in supporting local communities. I have worked on community initiatives, provided pro bono legal support, and helped organise local campaigns and activities across the borough, including as an organiser for the Labour Party in Woolwich.

I currently serve as President of the Woolwich Plumstead Nepalese Community, working to bring people together and support residents from all backgrounds.

I believe politics should begin with listening to local people and standing up for our community. When we work together, we can achieve meaningful change.

Over the coming weeks, I will be campaigning across Woolwich Dockyard, speaking directly with residents about the issues that matter most — including saving Woolwich Adventure Play Centre, genuinely affordable housing, community safety, youth services, and protecting green spaces and local facilities.

I would love to hear your concerns, ideas, and priorities for our community.

If you are free and would like to help with the campaign — whether by speaking to residents, delivering leaflets, or spreading the message — your support would be greatly appreciated.

Together, we can build a stronger and fairer Greenwich that works for all residents.

📅 Election Day: 7 May
📍 Woolwich Dockyard Ward

Please contact me if you would like to support the campaign or speak with me about local issues.

🙏 Thank you for your support.

Tom Adhikari
Independent Socialist & Community Candidate
Woolwich Dockyard Ward

Mob: 07823456024

 

Dear supporters,

Thank you for standing with us to protect Woolwich Adventure Play Centre and other supervised Adventure Play Centres across Greenwich. Your support has been powerful and deeply appreciated.

On 28 January 2026, Greenwich Council approved a new youth services model, NextGen Greenwich. While the Council states that it engaged with young people and families, this decision does not protect or guarantee the future of fully staffed, supervised Adventure Play Centres, including Woolwich. Instead, it leaves open the risk of centres being downgraded, repurposed, or replaced.

This decision was taken despite thousands of residents signing petitions and raising concerns through consultations, protests, and Council meetings. Unfortunately, community voices have not been reflected in the final outcome.

I am deeply disappointed. Supervised Adventure Play Centres cannot be replaced by generic youth hubs or unstaffed spaces. These centres are vital for children’s and young people’s safety, wellbeing, inclusion, and community cohesion—especially for autistic and disabled children and young people.

Because community concerns continue to be ignored, I am now considering standing as a councillor candidate for Woolwich Dockyard Ward in the May 2026 local elections—most likely as an Independent Socialist candidate in Greenwich. I am being supported by diverse communities in Woolwich, including the Nepalese Alliance, and by the newly formed Your Party, led by former Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn, which genuinely believes in investing in children, young people, and essential public services, rather than cutting or selling them off. After much reflection, I wanted to share this openly with you.

I have been a Labour Party member for many years and an organiser in Woolwich. However, I have become increasingly disillusioned by the way grassroots concerns—particularly those affecting children, young people, families, and vulnerable communities—are being overlooked. I recently resigned my membership because I no longer felt that the Labour Party currently represents people like me.

This is not about ambition or party politics.
It is about values, accountability, and genuine representation.

In the coming weeks, I will be reaching out to listen—and, if I move forward, to ask for your support.

Woolwich matters.
Our children matter.
And this campaign is not over.

Thank you for standing with our community.

Tom Adhikari
Petitioner – Save Woolwich Adventure Play Centre

 

🚨 URGENT – LAST OPPORTUNITY TO SAVE WOOLWICH ADVENTURE PLAY CENTRE FROM CLOSURE! 💔

Our children are on the verge of losing their much-loved, supervised Adventure Play Centres — safe, free, creative spaces where they play, learn, grow and feel supported.

This is our final chance to speak up before Greenwich Council makes its decision in January.

🔥 The consultation closes on 14 December.
If we don’t act now, these centres may close permanently.

👉 Fill in the consultation here:

https://adventure-play-centres.commonplace.is

Every voice matters. PLEASE take few minutes — it could save our play centres. Our children are counting on us.

 
🗣 IN-PERSON CONSULTATION SESSIONS – HAVE YOUR SAY!
📍 Woolwich Adventure Play Centre

Tues 9 Dec: 4.30pm – 6pm
Fri 12 Dec: 4.30pm – 6pm
Sat 13 Dec: 11.45am – 1pm

Please encourage particularly young people, parents, neighbours, and friends to attend.
These sessions are for YOU — your voice will directly influence the final outcome.

✊ SHOW UP & BE HEARD – JOIN THE PROTEST
🗓 Council Meeting: Wednesday, 3 December 2025 – 7:00pm
📍 Peaceful Protest: 6:15pm outside the Council

Let’s stand together and protect the future of our children’s play spaces before it's too late. 🌳💛✊

Save Woolwich Adventure Play Centre – Our Children’s Future Depends On It! This Centre faces potential closure altogether

Woolwich Adventure Playground is not just a park — it’s a safe, free, and much-loved space where children and young people of all abilities come together to laugh, explore, and simply be kids. Closing it would rip the heart out of our community.

For many children, especially those with additional needs, these centres provide one of the very few safe, supervised, accessible, and free indoor and outdoor play environments. They offer structured support, social connection, and emotional development opportunities that many after-school clubs, due to limited funding, simply cannot match. The trained playworkers provide continuity, safeguarding, and inclusive support that children and parents rely on.

However, according to the public consultation documents, four of the five Adventure Play Centres—Coldharbour, Glyndon, Meridian, and Woolwich—are at risk of losing their staffed 30-hours-per-week service, and Woolwich faces potential closure altogether.

These proposals would eliminate some of the borough’s only accessible supervised play environments at the same time that Greenwich Council is aiming to improve services for autistic and other neurodivergent or disabled children and young people—yet without providing any like-for-like alternative.

Why We Oppose the New Proposal for Woolwich Adventure Play Centre?

We strongly oppose the proposal to close Woolwich Adventure Play Centre because it removes one of the only safe, supervised, and fully inclusive play spaces available to children in Woolwich.
The council’s plan replaces a staffed, indoor-and-outdoor, SEND-inclusive centre with an unsupervised park at Maryon Park, which is not equivalent, not accessible, and not appropriate for the families who rely on the current centre.

According to the consultation documents, the new plan includes: Closing the Woolwich Centre, Ending the 30-hours-per-week staffed service, Relocating holiday school meals & Providing only an unsupervised outdoor space in Maryon Park.This would severely harm children—especially those with disabilities, additional needs, or from low-income households—who need supervised play, trained staff, and a safe indoor environment.

Maryon Park is not a comparable replacement. It lacks:

Trained, safeguarding-certified playworkers
Indoor facilities
SEND-friendly access
Proximity to central Woolwich families
The trusted support and early-help role currently provided by youth workers
Survey guidance on page 11 also reveals that the consultation does not include children or young people who actually use the centres, meaning the proposal fails to engage those most affected.

For these reasons, closing Woolwich Adventure Play Centre is not a “transformation”—it is a loss of a vital community service that will increase isolation, reduce safety, and harm long-term outcomes for young people.

✍️ Take Action Now

Greenwich Council has now approved a 4-week public consultation from 17 Nov to 14 Dec 2025 on the future of all five Adventure Play Centres. This is our opportunity to shape the final decision before it goes to Cabinet in January 2026.

You can take part by:

Completing the consultation survey — online by following the link below

    ✅ https://adventure-play-centres.commonplace.is

Attending face-to-face consultation events at the Adventure Play Centres and community venues
Speaking directly with the consultation teams during walkabouts, local sessions, and school/community visits
Sharing the consultation with family, neighbours, and local parents
Encouraging young people to complete the survey — their voice is crucial and will directly influence the outcome
✅ Sign the petition – tell Greenwich Council: WOOLWICH ADVENTURE PLAYGROUND STAYS!
✅ Share with friends & neighbours – help us spread the word.
✅ Join the protect 

Show up & be heard:

Council meeting: Wednesday, 3rd December, 2025 7.00 pm

Peaceful protest: 6:15 pm outside the Council

Why It Matters
Adventure playgrounds are unique, imaginative spaces where children can climb, jump, swing, zip, and explore in ways that build confidence, coordination, balance, and resilience.

At Woolwich Adventure Playground, kids enjoy:

🌳 Exciting outdoor play – rope swings, climbing frames, walkways, a climbing wall, zip wires and more.
🎨 Creative indoor activities – arts & crafts, table tennis, pool, board games, and even quiet homework space with computers.
🧑‍🏫 Skilled playworkers – trained staff ensure play is safe, welcoming, and inclusive for all children.
💚 Completely free access – so every child, no matter their family’s income, can come as often as they like.
For decades this has been a lifeline for families — giving children the freedom to play outdoors safely, make friends, build confidence, and feel part of their community.