The Ranch Adventure Playground & Youth Space
Welcome to free sessions – each child or young person must be signed up before attending.
Just register each child or young person once
Term-times
Usual hours during school term times
3:30 – 5:30 pm – Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday
Play Sessions (for all ages up to and including school year 7)
* Under 8s must be accompanied by an adult 18+*
6 – 8 pm – Wednesday & Friday
Youth Sessions for school year 7 and above
For daily updates, go to Facebook HERE
What we do
We believe that providing safe spaces for children and young people to flourish is essential to a vibrant and energetic community.
Our free, open-access sessions are run by our Youth and Play team, supported by local Volunteers. Activities include sports, creative workshops, music, outdoor play, indoor play, and hanging out.
Working with partners across the Cit,y we ensure the voices of young people and children are heard. We are proud to be part of the Playful Bristol network.
About The Ranch
We have been looking after The Ranch since 2018, when we were given the lease to run it by Bristol City Council. We manage the site on behalf of the Southmead Community. The Ranch is a treasure to families in Southmea,d and we are proud to base our work with children and young people here.
As well as running our after-school free play and evening youth sessions, we also work with other organisations for young people – WECIL, Creative Youth Network, and National Autistic Society, all of which bring groups to The Ranch.
One-to-one support
The Ranch Link Forward team supports the well-being of children and young people (aged 7-13) who are finding things tough. We offer one-to-one sessions and connections to small group activities like Inside Out, Board Games Club, and Wellbeing Pottery.
One-to-one sessions usually take place in school and are fun and safe spaces to explore what is important and what support is needed. We involve play and creative arts like games, painting, and drawing. We link children and young people to helpful groups, services, and activities.
We also support sessions for parents and carers.
How BBC DIY SOS transformed The Ranch
We could not believe our luck when, in October 2021, the DIY SOS team arrived, with an army of volunteers from near and far, to transform the Southmead Adventure Playground.
They spent 9 days and nights working hard, in all kinds of weather, to create new play and hangout spaces for the children, young people, and families in our community.
Watch the photo montage below for a quick overview of what happened. The programme was broadcast at 8 pm on BBC One on Tuesday, 24th May 2022.
If you were a volunteer on the project, HUGE thanks to you.
Youth & Play News
Calling all Young People for a Free and Fun Health Boost
We are excited to host our first health and wellbeing event especially for young people. ...
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Youth Scene Thriving at The Ranch in Southmead
Something exciting is happening in Southmead. Over the past few years, we have transformed The ...
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Watch Our Lovely Film: This is The Ranch – Supporting Young People
We are so pleased to share this new short film celebrating the impact of Youth ...
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Watch our Great Film – The Secret Life of The Ranch
Read more >Southmead Youth Centre: update on lease 2022
We agreed to return our lease for the Southmead Youth Centre building to the Council, due to their plans for their land. This happened formerly on October 3rd, 2022. In return, the Council has helped to pay for the renovation of The Ranch and also promised new community facilities within the new housing development at Glencoyne Square.
Therefore, our twice-weekly evening youth club now happens at The Ranch, which, since its renovation, has many fantastic new features for young people, such as the Hub lounge, a new sports surface, and an amazing music studio. We have seen several young people attending The Ranch grow and grow.
The BBC DIY SOS show was the beginning of another chapter in The Ranch’s long story (it is one of the oldest Adventure Playgrounds in the country), and a great lift to our plans to develop the site for all ages with top-class, fully accessible facilities for learning, play, adventure, and sports.
We need to keep raising funds to keep Youth and Play services running, and one of the ways for us to earn income is to open The Ranch to hire for children’s birthday parties. If you would like to volunteer to help us host parties, please do get in touch.
Click for info about party hire at The Ranch>Frequently Asked Youth Questions
Can I rent The Ranch?
Yes, one of the ways we fund our charitable work is by hiring the spaces for parties and other events.
FIND OUT MORE >Can I hold my community group or services at The Ranch?
Yes! If you are involved in a community group in Southmead and would like to talk about using the spaces here or at the Greenway Centre, please get in touch to talk about your ideas – email info@southmead.org or call us on 0117 950 3335.
I would like to volunteer, what do I need to do?
Looking after our sites and providing top quality sessions for our community of children and young people takes a whole team of wonderful staff and volunteers. If you would like to get involved in helping us there are a number of different things you can do.
Please get in touch with info@southmead.org to have an initial chat about what might be best for you.
Is The Ranch open at weekends?
Not for public play sessions. It can be hired privately for parties. Please click the link.
FIND OUT MORE >What are the current opening times? Please note times will be different during the school term and holidays.
Play Sessions for ages 0 – up to school year 7
Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday – 3:30 – 5:30 PM
* Under 8s must be accompanied by an adult 18+*
Youth Sessions for young people from school year 7
Wednesday & Friday – 6 – 8 PM
For daily details follow us on Facebook: The Ranch Adventure Playground & Youth Space
Our Partners
