Parents Save £1000 Turning Abandoned Backyard Into Kids Adventure Park

• Craig and Lisa had an overgrown backyard which had become a fox’s den
• They transformed it into an adventure park featuring a sand pit, climbing frame and hopscotch
• The pair saved over £1000 by grabbing bargains and freebies from Facebook Marketplace

Taking the kids down to the park is always fun, but two parents have made the experience even more exciting for their little ones by creating their very own adventure park in their back garden.

Lisa Town and Craig Turrell, both 29 from Lancing, decided to transform their backyard for their children Jayden, 6 and Sophia, 1 after it became overrun with wildlife. ‘The area was a fox's den for 7 years. We didn’t do anything to the space as we didn’t want to disturb them. As a result, the area filled up with brambles, stinging nettles, comfrey and bindweed. It also had a broken concrete path.

‘Plus, as our house is much higher than our neighbours’, we had to build a new wooden wall to stop the mud from falling onto their fence and breaking it.’

Recently, Lisa realised it would become easier to take back control of the garden. ‘Our neighbour cut down two really big conifer trees, which made the foxes leave. We then didn't have an excuse anymore - we needed to do something with that area.

‘We didn't like the kids' toys being spread around everywhere so we thought a park would be great to keep everything in one area - plus it would prevent the need for flowers which would inevitably get trampled on!’

Once the couple started the job, sourcing the supplies ended up being a very cheap process. ‘The climbing frame was given to us for free, and we already had the sand pit - we just repainted it,’ Lisa told money-saving community LatestDeals.co.uk.

‘We picked up the trampoline for free from Facebook Marketplace, and the hopscotch was for sale there for £10.

‘The balancing beam was free and someone was throwing away the sleepers. Then we made the fence out of pallets.

‘We decided to put flowers in a wooden bed to protect them, and we got those supplies for free off Marketplace.

‘The lining was free as we used cardboard from my partner’s workplace, and people were throwing away ton bags so they were free for us too!’

‘The most expensive item turned out to be the bark, which we got from Asda. We had to get more than we thought as it’s such a big area. We used a 3 for £10 deal and spent £200 in total.’

‘After pricing up trampolines, climbing frames and so on online we think we saved over £1000 by salvaging bargains from Marketplace!’

Once the supplies were ready, it was time to start building. ‘First we had to cut down all the

weeds so we could dig them out. We then had to smash up and remove the smashed path.

‘The next step was to dig and level out the ground as it has a two-way slope. We then had to make a wooden wall and stake that at the edge to stop the earth from falling and breaking next door's fence.

‘It was then time to strip the pallets and cut each one to length before rounding off the ends. We sandpapered each one and screwed them into place to make the fences.

‘We then had to box, line and bark individual sections at a time as we kept running out of boxes, ton bags and bark. That was probably one of the main challenges we encountered, along with digging up the concrete and making the fence.

‘The climbing frame was next - that went up, and then we put the sand pit down. We painted both and then placed bark in that area. We put the sleepers around the edge to hold the lining down until we got more supplies.

‘We then boxed and lined the rest of the area. Finally, we put the trampoline, hopscotch and balancing beam in place and finished up by placing the bark in that section.’

Tom Church, co-founder of LatestDeals.co.uk, said ‘Lisa and Craig have done a great job of transforming their backyard. This adventure park is a great way to keep their little ones entertained, especially as the summer months are just around the corner.

‘Sourcing supplies from online marketplaces and friends or family is such an effective way to keep costs down - one person’s trash is another’s treasure!’

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