Bouncy Castle Hire in Gillingham
We do not cover Gillingham. We live in it.
Bump & Jump runs out of Doddington Road, and Gillingham is the town our vans leave from every morning of the season. Our children went to school here. Our Facebook page has been called Gillingham's Bump & Jump since the day we started, because that is what we are. If you are booking a party in ME7 or the Gillingham side of ME8, you are booking the firm from down the road rather than one that drives in from somewhere else and hopes the satnav holds up.
That has practical consequences, and this page is mostly about what they are. Check your date on our real-time diary or ring 07479 969229.
What being local actually gets you
Three things, all of which matter more than they sound.
Short notice is genuinely possible. Most hire firms need a week. Because our stock is stored minutes from you, a Gillingham booking made on a Friday for a Saturday is often workable if the unit you want is free. Ring rather than book online if your party is imminent - the diary is accurate, but on the phone we can tell you what is realistically achievable.
The awkward slots are easier. Our published windows are delivery between 7am and 11am and collection between 5pm and 8pm. Gillingham addresses are the first ones we reach and the last ones we clear, so if you need a castle standing by half past eight in the morning, or you would rather we did not knock at five when a room full of children is mid-cake, this is the easiest town in our area to accommodate.
If something goes wrong, we are not two hours away. Blowers do occasionally trip a socket, and the odd unit develops a fault. We carry spare blowers and leads on the van, and because our base is in the same town we can usually get back to a Gillingham address quickly rather than telling you the party is over. No firm can promise perfection; proximity is the next best thing.
Halls in Gillingham
These are the indoor spaces we deliver to across ME7 and the Gillingham end of ME8, with the booking details we hold:
- Woodlands Sports Hall - Woodlands Road, ME7 2DU. Booked online through School Hire. A full sports hall, so height and floor space are both generous - the Gillingham venue for our larger units and for parties where you want the children to have room to run as well as bounce.
- Hempstead Village Hall - 169 Hempstead Road, ME7 3QG - 01634 262034. Well placed for the Hempstead and Wigmore families who make up a good share of our bookings.
- Bredhurst Village Hall - Hurstwood Road, ME7 3JZ - 01634 540095. A proper downland village hall on the southern edge of the borough, and a lovely setting for a summer party.
- Parkwood Community Centre - Parkwood Green, ME8 9PN - 01634 371886.
- Twydall Village Hall - ME8. Handy if you are on the Rainham boundary.
- Gillingham Compact Hall - ME7. As the name suggests it is on the smaller side, which makes it a sensible pick for toddler parties rather than for a full-size castle.
Two numbers to get from any hall before you book with us: the clear height beneath the lowest beam, light fitting or basketball hoop - not the height at the top of the roof - and the width of the doorway you will be coming through. Our standard castles want 10ft (3.05m) of clear height as a minimum, and taller themed units and slides want considerably more than that. Every product page on this site carries exact measurements.
To be transparent about these listings: we are not affiliated with any venue named above and we receive nothing for mentioning them. They appear because customers ask us where to go. Details were accurate when posted and should be confirmed with the hall directly. Satisfying yourself that the space works stays with you - where a venue assures you an inflatable will fit and it turns out on the day that it does not, that is not something we can be liable for, and the balance remains due, since we publish precise dimensions for everything we own. Our broader list of halls across Medway and Kent has plenty more.
Gillingham gardens, area by area
Gillingham is not one kind of housing, and the right inflatable changes depending on where in it you live.
Hempstead, Wigmore and Darland. The best gardens we work in anywhere in the borough - properly sized, generally level, with mature planting. The one thing to look up at is tree cover. Our taller units need clear air above them, not just clear ground beneath, and a well-established garden here often has branches reaching further over the lawn than the owner realises. Stand where you want the castle, look straight up, and if there is canopy above it tell us when you book.
Gillingham town centre, Gillingham Green and the streets around the Great Lines. Compact Victorian and Edwardian housing, often with a small paved yard rather than a lawn. That is workable - we anchor to hard standing with weighted sandbags instead of ground stakes - but the space is the limit, so measure the yard and let us match a unit to it rather than the other way round.
Brompton. The tightest part of our whole patch. Much of Brompton is dense terraced housing built for the dockyard, and a fair number of properties there have no rear access at all, or a yard reached only through the house. It is not a lost cause: our smaller units come through a standard doorway, and we will lay dust sheets and carry through if that is the only route. But Brompton is the one part of Gillingham where we would say plainly that a hall often gives you the better party, and Woodlands Sports Hall is only up the road.
Bredhurst and the southern lanes. Up on the downs, so noticeably breezier than the riverside and reached by narrow lanes. Big gardens, no space problem - but wind is the constraint that bites first up there, and our units have a hard safety limit on it.
Gillingham Park, the Great Lines and other public ground
We get asked this often enough that it deserves its own answer. Yes, we can supply inflatables for events on public land in Gillingham - including the parks and the Great Lines Heritage Park - but not on a private booking basis. You need permission from Medway Council first, and we will need to see it, along with agreeing how the units will be powered, since there is rarely a socket where you want one and a generator usually has to come into it.
For community events, school fairs, church fêtes and fun days, get in touch early rather than late. We supply risk assessments and insurance documentation as a matter of course, and event organisers usually need those in hand weeks ahead of the day. A private birthday, though, needs to be in an enclosed garden you control or a booked venue - we cannot set up on a park, a verge or a shared green for a family party.
What Gillingham families book
Being on the doorstep, we see the full spread here. Themed castles start at £90 and are the backbone of ME7 birthdays from about four upwards. Our soft play packages start at £150 for the under-fives. Combined packages suit the Woodlands and Hempstead hall bookings, where you have the floor area for more than one thing at once, and our add-ons - candy floss, popcorn, party games - fill a hall slot nicely.
Every unit is checked annually to PIPA or RPII standard, our blowers and cabling are PAT tested, and we hold £5 million of public liability cover as BIHA members. Ask and the certificates will be in your inbox the same day, which is usually what a hall or a school office wants before confirming anything.
Questions from Gillingham customers
Whereabouts in Gillingham are you based?
Doddington Road, ME8 6SR. We are a family business working from home, not a depot, which is why we cap the number of jobs we take on any given day.
Can you do a last-minute booking?
Often, yes, and more readily in Gillingham than anywhere else we serve. Phone us rather than booking online if the party is in the next day or two and we will tell you straight away what is available.
I live in a Brompton terrace with no way through to the back. What are my options?
Either a smaller unit carried through the house on dust sheets, or a hall - Woodlands Sports Hall is close by and has room to spare. Send us a photo of the route and we will tell you honestly which we would recommend.
Can I have a bouncy castle in Gillingham Park for my child's birthday?
Not as a private hire. Public land requires permission from Medway Council, and even with it we would need to arrange power. For a birthday, an enclosed garden or a booked hall is the way to go.
Do you cover Hempstead, Wigmore and Bredhurst?
All of them, plus Twydall, Parkwood, Brompton, Darland, Gillingham Green, the Grange and the riverside streets. Anywhere in ME7 and ME8, at no extra delivery cost.
There is a large tree over my lawn. Is that a problem?
It depends on the unit. Standard castles need real clearance above as well as around them, and slides need more again. Give us a rough idea of the branch height, or send a photo taken from where the castle would sit, and we will pick something that fits underneath.
What happens if the blower stops working?
Switch it off at the socket, get the children off, and call us. We carry spares and, being in the same town, we can usually be with a Gillingham booking quickly.
Do you need a parking space?
It helps a great deal on the busier terraced streets. We need to be near your gate for around twenty minutes at each end of the day, so if you can keep a space outside, do.
Book with your local firm
Our diary is live and updates as bookings come in, so a date showing free is genuinely free - book online and the confirmation email lands immediately. Or call or text 07479 969229 and speak to the people who will actually turn up on the day.
We are family-run, we work in the town we live in, and we do not double-book or cancel on your big day. In Gillingham, that is not a marketing line - we would run into you in Asda.