RORP
A project of the Rotary Club of Nunawading
Representative image only (https://www.flickr.com/photos/carlwwycoff/7146979359/in/faves-141484224@N07/ ) Project gallery coming soon.
The Rotary Overseas Relocated Playgrounds project (RORP) finds surplus playground equipment in Victoria--and soon Australia-wide--and works with councils and private industry to ensure it can be tagged, carefully decommissioned, audited and sent to partner Rotary clubs for a further assessment and installation in communities without access to safe playgrounds.
The benefits:
- Children overseas get access to playground equipment, in some cases for the first time ever.
- The delivery is often made with other needed supplies.
- An overseas Rotary club gets to work hand-in-hand and in consultation with local communities and respond to their needs.
- Finding a way for this equipment to continue to be used avoids sending functional, structurally sound play equipment to landfill.
Why are the playgrounds no longer needed in Australia?
- Sometimes demographics change in a community. Some equipment may be too challenging for younger children or too boring for older children. Councils respond to these shifts.
- Many councils have fixed-time equipment refreshment policies. These can be based on the difficulty of inspecting for any metal corrosion without removing equipment from the ground.
- Time, space and financial constraints make it too costly to reinstall the equipment here and would mean lengthy periods without access to playgrounds.
How do we make sure the equipment is safe to reuse?
- All equipment is checked after removal. Necessary repairs are completed before shipping.
- Any playground components which cannot be replaced or repaired are eliminated from consideration. Sets shipped overseas contain only safe, structurally sound equipment.
- A final audit is performed by the receiving Rotary club before an installation is scheduled.
This is a fantastic project with social, educational environmental and financial benefits across multiple countries. If you'd like to get involved, send a message below for a chance to find out more.
Want to volunteer?
