Soham man, known as Park Dad who works in Mildenhall, on his popular park reviews across Suffolk and Cambridgeshire

It’s all about park life for a dad and his three-year-old daughter who are on a mission to visit and review all the play areas and parks across Suffolk and Cambridgeshire.

Nathan, who lives in Soham and works in Mildenhall, started reviewing parks in June 2023 and has not looked back since, gaining an avid following on social media.

The 31-year-old, with his daughter Savannah, have been to almost 100 parks together in both counties and beyond - and his Park Dad Facebook page has now gained 3,800 followers.

After months of regular park trips, including ones in Newmarket, Bury St Edmunds and Thetford, Nathan is grateful for the time it allows him to spend with his three-year-old girl.

He said: “I honestly love doing the reviews and it's a unique and great experience with my daughter that we both really enjoy.

“One day I can show her what she was a part of and hopefully, after being super embarrassed her dad is Park Dad, she will remember what a great time she had and be proud of what we have achieved.

“My daughter loves a park and now when I ask her what she would like to do, she says the park.

“I still have a large area I want to cover and it's increasing as followers are asking if I can travel further to their local or favourite parks.”

As he wasn’t too familiar with the area, and to save money on going to other places, he wanted cheap and easy days out in the summer and so the idea to start doing reviews of parks began.

Despite only starting in the middle of the year, Nathan has already received a lot of support and love for his reviews, with over 3k likes on his Park Dad Facebook page already.

“I never expected to collect such a large following so quickly and receive so many amazing and thankful messages,” he said.

“It's been really nice to receive so much kind support from parents and grandparents expressing how the page has helped their autistic child, or grandparents who have used the page to take their grandchildren to new parks.

“I see people tagging each other planning play dates at the park and people have trusted my ratings and gone out their way to visit those parks.

“I have loved the response from the followers and how free they are to share their experiences for others to see too.”

Each park Nathan visits is broken down into the following five categories and rated out of five: safety, quantity (in terms of equipment), picnic, independence and maintenance.

So far on his escapades, the Memorial Gardens play area in Newmarket and the park at Isleham Recreation Ground have scored the highest, with 22 stars out of 25 for each of them for an overall rating.

Moving forwards, the Suffolk teacher is looking to build on the 89 parks he has posted so far, and continue the reviews into the winter months.

“My family love Christmas so I am hoping to find themed events and places to visit, so families can enjoy those festive trips, even when it's cold during winter.

“My targeted area to continue covering is around Bury, Thetford, Cambridge and Ely, with Haverhill and Brandon as future targets too.

“What I would love to do in the future, is help fund a specialised accessible park for children with special educational needs or disabilities, and a park that will attract visitors from all over Cambridgeshire and Suffolk.”