Supporting young people in Hartford

At Hartford Parish Council, we want children and teenagers to feel safe, welcome and happy growing up here. 

Find out how we are supporting young people in the village, and share your ideas. 

At Hartford Parish Council, we aim to represent residents of all ages and improve the village for all. As you can imagine though, none of our councillors are under the age of 18 (far from it for most of us!). As a result, we have been listening to young people and families in the village, to understand more about their needs and views.

In 2024 and 2025, we met with a group of students, aged 11 to 16, at Hartford CofE High School. The students described the village as calm and friendly, and said that they value the playgrounds, Marshalls Arm nature reserve and other amenities. However, they all said that they sometimes struggle with loneliness (due to factors such as traffic making it difficult to play outside and travel to meet friends). Most also felt disconnected from the village, and didn’t know many of their neighbours.

When asked what would improve Hartford for young people, the students highlighted four priorities:

  1. More social activities for young people and village community events 
  2. More space for sport, play and relaxation
  3. Safer walking and cycling routes
  4. More nature, wildlife and greenery.

Alongside this, we carried out a survey in 2024, asking all residents about their priorities for the village. The survey showed strong support for more youth sports and community facilities. We have also begun speaking with Tiny Steps – a Northwich-based charity for families who have children with additional needs – about how to make our plans more inclusive and accessible. 

We have taken this feedback on board in our planning. Find out how we are responding below.

Children playing at the Let's Play sessions
Children playing at Let's Play

Social events and activities

Each year, we run two free-of-charge family-friendly events: Picnic in the Park and the Christmas Light Up. We also support the Hartford Christmas Fayre, where children can meet Santa and enjoy free music performances. 

The young students we met appreciated these events but were keen for more regular social opportunities. In response, we have set up an online directory of clubs in Hartford for children, teens and adults, and produced a round-up of school-holiday fun, to help families find fun social activities.

We are also supporting Hartford NSPCC to run the following regular activities for children and teens: 

  • Art club for 11 – 16s – a weekly club where teens can express themselves and make new friends
  • Let’s Play – a free monthly outdoor play session on the Green Field, with chess, art, football and other activities
  • Craft for Kids – a craft session where primary-school age children can try new creative activities.

Do you want to run a community event for young people in Hartford? If so, find out about our support for community events.

Amenities for sport, play and relaxation

Hartford Parish Council owns and maintains two parks with playgrounds in the village: Grange Park on Bradburns Lane, and Leese Park on Parker Avenue. 

Grange Park is our larger park, with equipment for younger children and teenagers, plus outdoor gym equipment and a table tennis table. At the top of Grange Park is the cricket pitch, which we sub-lease to Winnington Park Cricket Club. The club runs cricket activities for young people during the spring and summer months. 

In 2025, we consulted Tiny Steps and added new play panels to Grange Park. With Tic Tac Toe, Connect 4, drums, a xylophone and a rain machine, the panels were chosen to be accessible for children with mobility issues or additional needs.

We also manage the Green Field behind the Chester Road shops. In 2025, we installed new goalposts with nets on the field, and added new picnic benches for socialising and relaxation.

Behind Hartford Village Hall, we recently added a ‘French Boules-style’ Petanque and Boccia court. You can use the court anytime and borrow play equipment free-of-charge. Tiny Steps are also running free social play sessions on the court, for families who have children with additional needs. Contact dianedixon@tinystepssensory.onmicrosoft.com for information.

Walking and cycling around the village

Heavy traffic and limited cycle paths make it hard for young people to travel independently around Hartford.

Highways and footpaths are managed by Cheshire West and Chester Council (CWAC), and they are currently reviewing their Cycling and Walking Infrastructure Plan. As Hartford Parish Council, we have fed into this review, requesting a 20 mph speed limit along Chester Road, from Hartford Station to Greenbank Station, to improve safety for children walking to school. (We also requested additional pedestrian crossings. This request was turned down).

In the meantime, whilst we await CWAC’s plans, we have taken steps to support cycling locally by providing Hartford Cycle Hub with a space at the Green Field Pavilion and by installing a covered bike shelter on the Green Field.

Students planting trees in Hartford
Students from Hartford Primary School and Hartford CofE High School planting trees in Hartford

Nature, wildlife and greener spaces

The young people we met value nature and want to see more wildlife and greenery around the village – a desire shared by residents of all ages in our 2024 village survey. 

In response, we planted over 1000 native trees and bushes across the village in 2025 and 2026, aided by pupils from Hartford Primary School and Hartford CofE High School. The saplings were provided free by the Woodland Trust.

We are also providing grant funding to the Marshalls Arm Nature Reserve volunteer team to help them manage the reserve – and we have added new herb beds and flower planters to the village, added solar panels to the Green Field Pavilion, stopped using pesticides on our green spaces, and much more. Find out how we are supporting nature in the village.

Share your ideas

By listening to young people and families, and collaborating with community groups, we aim to make Hartford a place where children and teenagers feel welcome and at home.

If you have any ideas for how we can support young people in the village, please contact us. We’d love to hear your ideas.