“From the moment your child is born, you become grateful for playgrounds… these spaces can be a refuge: from traffic, drunks and scary dogs… without playgrounds, you end up breastfeeding on kerbs or walls”
It’s been a busy week for play (and it’s only Tuesday!). On Monday, Guardian columnist Lucy Cosslett – in her article ‘Arrogant parents and extravagant tantrums: all the world’s a stage in our precious playgrounds’ – provided an honest personal account of the safe haven fixed equipment playgrounds can be for parents/carers of young children, whilst also shining a light on some stark statistics that playworkers will unfortunately familiar with, or at least not surprised.
Some examples included:
In England, parks budgets have fallen by £350m in the past 12 years;
One anecdote about “wrangling a heavy, furious child” waiting for their go on the swings, particularly caught my eye:
Thankfully, most parents… will say gently to their kid, “It’s time to let the baby have a go.” There is always one, however, who lets their darling offspring hog the equipment and then affects to see right through you, your tantrumming toddler and the queue behind you”
As a playworker on an adventure playground, rather than being on one parents side or another, I’m immediately reminded that (however well maintained and designed) these playgrounds are not accompanied by trained playworkers to hold the space in an informed, sensitive, and more impartial way than even parents/carers with the best of intentions.
Then, today, Sandra Laville – Environment correspondent for The Guardian, writing in her article ‘Children suffering due to lack of outdoor play, UK charities warn‘- highlighted the voice of a coalition of charities pushing the Westminster Government to recognise the damage being inflicted upon the health and wellbeing of children in England by refusing to prioritise outdoor play.
The call for evidence has closed, with over 100 pieces of written evidence submitted, and the first oral evidence session is tomorrow – Wednesday 24th January 2024, from 09:45am – and can be viewed live on the parliamentlive.tv website here. Current agenda listed below:
It’s just 7 weeks until the 21st National Playwork Conference in England, and The Playwork Foundation is pleased to share that, not only will our Trustees be travelling from all corners of Great Britain to attend but, we will also be curating our own track!
In an email earlier this week, Meynell of Meynell Games (the organiser of the conference) shared some of the exciting speakers lined-up for another new track entitled ‘Play and Playwork Around The World’:
Meera Patel and Juliette Liebi will be drawing on their experiences in South Africa, and discussing the Art Panels their project has produced;
Maya Lan will be traveling from Cyrpus to deliver a session on processing trauma through play, which she has noticed in her work in the Middle East;
Niki Buchan will be drawing on her experiences working in South Africa and Australia, and talking about the importance of play for mental health and wellbeing; and
Joan Beattie will be speaking Playwork and the experience in Transylvania.
We also got a sneak peak of what Playwork in Progress regular, Suzanne Axelsson, will be presenting on at the conference:
Conference prices will be going up again in February, so if you’ve not already booked now is the time (and tell them The Playwork Foundation sent you 😜):
There is an interesting history to vapes, with the first modern e-cigarette invented for good reasons and appearing to be a timely saviour to a deadly addiction.
But in the 18 years since they were first introduced in the UK, rather than coming of age, the dark side of vaping is beginning to become more apparent. What was once an innovative smoking cessation tool, is increasingly ensnaring children and young people in a nicotine seine net.
When I was at school in the 00’s, smoking had mostly fallen out of fashion, so the 80s stereotype of big-haired girls sneaking a ciggie in the toilets was a thing of the past. You only hung-out in there if you wanted the best gossip (yes, I used to sneak into the girls) or you were escaping Mrs Davies’ Welsh Class.
Today, we’ve gone back to the 80s but with a modern twist. Stories are emerging of schools removing the main doors of toilet blocks, employing CCTV cameras to monitor the entrances, and installing “vape detectors” above cubicles to provide the tell-tale timestamp to track down vagrant vapers.
Last month, the story of Sarah Griffin came to light after an appearance on This Morning and numerous articles from the BBC and other legacy media outlets. Having first tried a vape at the age of 9, this 12 year-old girl in Northern Ireland wound-up in intensive care and was placed into an induced coma for four days to bring an infection affecting her lungs under control.
Though they were ultimately able to save her life, doctors pointed the finger of blame directly at vaping, which had exacerbated her asthma and put her life at risk.
Sarah’s story is being shared as part of an anti-vaping campaign from the charity Northern Ireland Chest Heart and Stroke. As their campaign page describes:
Many people may think there is little, or no risk of personal harm associated with regular vaping. The biggest misunderstanding about vapes is that they are harmless compared to cigarettes.
This is not true. The long term health implications are unknown – just as they once were with tobacco.
As I’m sure is the case at many adventure playgrounds, we have watched at The Venture as vaping has become more-and-more prevalent as time marches on, and even more concerning as their use is discovered amongst children of younger-and-younger ages. Discarded disposable vapes, too, are now a common visual of the crisp packet and pop bottle litter landscape.
With the general positive perception of vapes as a way to help people stop smoking tobacco, without a clear catalogue of evidence demonstrating the dangers of vaping, calls to curtail their use will struggle to break through – particularly to children and young people.
Moves are, nonetheless, underway to try to tackle youth vaping. In September, Public Health Wales released new guidance on vaping for secondary schools. And in October, Rishi Sunak announced a public consultation on plans, backed by all the devolved nations and administrations, to create a “Smokefree Generation” – this includes the intention to clampdown on access to vapes by children.
…the health advice is clear – if you don’t smoke, don’t vape and children should never vape.
The consultation is open until 6th December. Please take part if you can. [THIS CONSULTATION HAS NOW CLOSED]
You can view the full online advice session delivered by Northern Ireland Chest Heart and Stroke on YouTube, and below that we’ve included some useful links from the presentation. We will also continue to compile useful links and resources at the bottom of this page which may be of use to playworkers and youth workers.
It’s the final push for nominations to the 14th Annual Playwork Awards
Arguably the highlight of the playwork year, the Annual Playwork Awards mark the pinnacle point of the National Playwork Conference held in Eastbourne, England, each year (except when there’s a pandemic, of course).
Now in their 14th year, it’s easier than ever to nominate who you think are the GOAT of playwork. Nominations can be in writing (as before) and can also be made by audio and video! And all you need is to answer 3 questions:
Who are you nominating?
Which award are you nominating them for?
Why are you nominating them?
But you will have to be quick, as time is running out with the deadline for submissions this Friday, 17th November 2023.
Here are the different awards you can nominate under:
The Play and Community Development Award 2024
This Award recognises an organisation or individual who has engaged with and involved the local community to increase children’s opportunities to play.
The recipient of this award will be able to demonstrate:
Engagement with the local community through auditing play, gathering children’s views, hyperlocal research, fundraising, access to play and/or spaces of play
Commitment to the playwork principles, diversity, equity and inclusion
Appropriate collaboration with children to ensure their voices are heard
Paul Bonel, who died in January 2011, was always striving to make the world a better place for children and was at the forefront of the development of playwork as a recognised profession. We are looking to celebrate a living individual who has made a difference to children’s lives through their contribution to playwork.
This award will go to an individual:
Who has made a significant contribution to the development and understanding of playwork practice at a local or national level
Whose contribution is respected and acknowledged by their peers
This award is for an organisation or individual who has really made a difference through their training, mentoring practice, and approach to professional development. This can be for either internal workplace or external training and mentoring
The recipient of the award must be able to evidence/demonstrate:
How they promote playwork and the playwork principles in their training, mentoring and professional development work with individuals and organisations
How they work so that the individual needs of staff, learners or mentees are met as much as possible to enable inclusive practice
How their work results in demonstrably innovative and sustainable playwork practice from those they train, support or mentor
The recipient of this award is recognised for their flexibility and openness to others – specifically around issues of diversity, equity and inclusion – as they make the celebratory and transformative potential of playwork theory and practice real.
The award goes to the individual or organisation that best meets the following criteria:
Have a diverse and inclusive reach professionally and with the wider community
Constantly working to improve or upskill themselves and/or their team about other cultures, beliefs, abilities and preferences
Show responsiveness within their practice to support the diverse needs of others
Following on from our earlier post, interested parties can now register to attend the 2023 Play England AGM which will be taking place Monday 6th November at 3pm.
Full details of the event can be found here, including an agenda and a Trustees’ End of Year Report.
We look forward to seeing some of you there!
DON’T FORGET: The following day, Tuesday 7th November, will be the inaugural meeting of the Network of Adventure Playgrounds. A busy week for playworkers!
Please see below a notice from Play England’s September newsletter asking people to save the date for their AGM, currently set for Monday 6th November at 3pm.
This is why play is so important – a new film from Play Wales feat. Michael Sheen
Click the image to watch the trailer
“All work and no play makes you… what, exactly?” booms the voice of Welsh actor Matthew Rhys Evans across the Conference Hall of Glasgow Caledonian University. It’s Wednesday 7th June 2023, and I’m attending the International Play Association’s (IPA) triennial world conference in Glasgow thanks to a bursary from IPA Cymru. And despite the kilt-clad piper playing outside the Annie Lennox Building just the morning before, here I am, transported back to the land of my fathers as Play Wales premieres its new film ‘This is why play is so important’.
The film, commissioned by Play Wales, aims to communicate to adults working with children (and parents and carers) the importance of play. As I’m sure anyone in the playwork sector will attest, that’s easier said than done! It’s the thing that makes play and playwork so difficult for the wider world to quickly grasp – it is both simple and complex. Our impact, as adults, upon play is too readily underestimated. And the consequences of children and young people being deprived opportunities to play, freely overlooked yet so immeasurably detrimental to the health of both the child and the community in which they live.
That being said, if there’s a film to try and win hearts and minds of the masses in just a quarter of an hour, this is it. I should admit my bias and the reason the film resonated so deeply for me, at this point. The Venture, and all the wonderful children and young people who bring it to life, are prominent characters in the film. The Venture is also the place where I started out as a playworker and where I currently work as Communications Manager and Inclusion Project Manager.
A view of the sandpit and tower structures of The Venture’s adventure playground, in Wrecsam, Wales.
The film uses the voices of children and young people from across Wales and mixes them with adult memories and testimonies of play and its importance. It also provides a visual tour of the myriad of landscapes and playscapes in Wales: adventure playgrounds, streets, sea shores, gardens, skate parks, schoolyards, and verdant valleys shaded by woodland.
SPOILER ALERT: Just over halfway through the film, we get a couple of mentionable cameos. Around the 8-minute mark, complete with blond hair that might be from filming season 2 of Good Omens, we get the unmistakable Michael Sheen projecting out of the screen as he describes the joy of riding a tricycle repeatedly around a track. This is followed, not long after, by former Children’s Commissioner for Wales (and patron of The Venture) Keith Towler who tells the tale of a leap too far – an account of what Bob Hughes might have called “Deep Play” – and a plummet to hard ground below. Under normal circumstances, such stories might evoke a squeamish reaction and the conclusion that such experiences have no value and should be prevented. Yet here, in the safe confines of this well paced and gently-toned film, the moment fills the room around me with a ripple of laughter indicative of both amusement and affinity.
I’ve since watched the film several times. Once again in Scotland, at the closing of the IPA conference, at the Welsh premiere in a dusty barn in Llanwrthwl as part of Playworkers’ Forum, and during the northern premiere at Tŷ Pawb, Wrecsam, with some of the stars of the show. Each time, despite the assumption that I would not be brought to tears again, I find myself sniffling and smiling through the joy and adulation of this new piece of playwork culture.
What struck me in that conference hall in Glasgow, was a moment of clarity. A reminder of why we do what we do, as playworkers, and the journey we have travelled over the last few years.
In March 2020, COVID detained our ability to playwork overnight. But we eventually found a way. We ploughed through the guidance and the science; we jumped through the bubbles and the track and trace. And eventually, quietly and unceremoniously, we returned to the playwork we once knew. But it’s not the same. Funding is far more competitive; playworkers are now teaching assistants or scooped up by Aldi and Lidl; children and young people are forced onto the “catch up” conveyor belt; and that’s without even beginning to examine the impacts of lockdowns and what happened during them.
The Venture’s gates closed at the brink of the first UK-wide lockdown
But some good came out of COVID. At the beginning of 2021, we tentatively established The Venture Play Inclusion Project (PIP) – closed playwork provision for children and young people with neurodevelopmental conditions. This was because we were increasingly hearing accounts of autistic children and young people being excluded from playing in public parks and green spaces due to the volume of people and the negative/stigmatic responses of the general public. Our adventure playground at The Venture, mostly vacant during the day at that time, was offered as a sanctuary for these children and young people, and their families (and support bubble), to come and play unabated. A time and space where they could be their authentic selves in a playful environment, with adults who honoured their play: playworkers. Since then, PIP has become a group session popular with children and young people of all ages. We even attracted the attention of the Prime Minister of Wales, Mark Drakeford, who visited in May 2022 and experienced his first s’more!
Prif Weinidog, Mark Drakeford, making his first ever s’more at The Venture’s Play Inclusion Project
Dexter, one of the “OG’s” of the Play Inclusion Project, with Prif Weinidog, Mark Drakeford, and Chief Officer of The Venture, Malcolm King OBE.
There, on the big screen in Glasgow, were these children – a testament of our project. It seemed unfathomable that we hadn’t known them until COVID. Yet here, in 2023, my heart leapt at the sight of their younger selves. My mind hurtled backwards to those hand-sanitising times, where we pushed forward a front against the virus to enable these children to play in their own way. Those memories meeting and mixing with the present. Only days before, at our now-regular Saturday PIP session, these same amazing children were sharing their creativity, their aspirations, their worries, their battles. I suddenly realised how much they’d grown! Physically, their faces and features gave testimony to the passage of time and, in some cases, the ravages of puberty. They’ve also grown as people – and so have we!
Playworker Nic on the sandpit of The Venture’s adventure playground
My partner, Nic, who is autistic and volunteered on those initial PIP sessions, is now a fully-fledged playworker on the inclusion project and the open-access playwork provision at The Venture. I, as a result of many conversations with parents/carers, also completed my own journey of diagnosis and can now embrace my neurodiversity.
Jackie Boldon, Dr Wendy Russell, Penny Wilson, Angharad Wyn Jones, Siôn Edwards in the Conference Hall of Glasgow Caledonian University
It was there, amongst playworkers and play advocates from around the globe, that I suddenly saw the bigger picture. It shouldn’t have taken a global pandemic, but through COVID we realised just how inclusive and universal playwork practice can be to enable children and young people to play. Those 15 minutes were cathartic.
For me this film is more than just an advocacy tool. It’s a touchstone to the past – a reminder of the route we took; an affirmation for the present for when times (and budgets) get tough; and, a torch for the future, when light is needed to help guide the way.
Diolch o galon / Thank you to Play Wales, Welsh Government, and all the contributors (especially the children and young people) from the bottom of my heart for creating such a beautiful piece.
I can’t guarantee that you will experience the film in the same way I do, but I will promise that it’s 15 minutes of your day well-spent.
Mwynha / Enjoy!
This is why play is so important
This article was written by Siôn Edwards and represents his personal opinions, rather than those of The Playwork Foundation.
You are invited to attend the Annual Open Meeting of The Playwork Foundation:
Wednesday 19th July
11am – 1pm, via Zoom
Our Open Meeting will be an opportunity for members and non-members alike to find out what The Playwork Foundation has been working on over the last year and also to hear from each of the national playboards of Great Britain and Northern Ireland on the latest insights and progress from all corners of the UK.
To receive the link, please sign up to The Playwork Foundation mailing list.
It’s an exciting time for both the playwork sector in the UK and The Playwork Foundation, and we want you to be part of the conversation and the journey.
We know, through attending conferences like Eastbourne and IPA, that talking to playworkers and other practitioners working with children and young people in other settings can be greatly beneficial to our ongoing professional development.
Sarah Wilson, who has been a playworker for 14 years, is aiming to bring those valuable opportunities to connect with each other out of the conferences and into the real world. Her aim is to link up frontline playworkers, managers, volunteers, and trustees of adventure playgrounds in an informal environment. The first of these get-togethers will be on Thursday 18th May 2023, from 7:30pm, at The White Swan, Highbury.
“When I first started out, I was keen to meet other Playworkers but quickly found that everyone was scattered and not really in contact. I hosted some Hackney playwork drinks about 8 years ago and it was a great chance for frontline playworkers, from different projects, to get together.
Now, as well as being Senior Playworker at Shakespeare Walk Adventure Playground, I also carry out annual health and safety inspections for other adventure playgrounds as an APIA-approved inspector and get the opportunity to meet playworkers at playgrounds who all say the same thing- they’d love to be in contact with others. I thought it was time to resurrect the Playworker socials! “
Sarah is hoping to hold more gatherings across London in the coming year, with the next gathering pencilled in for June in the Richmond area. Playworkers from other areas are also welcome to attend and Sarah would be happy to support/encourage other gatherings in other places.
For more information, or to let Sarah know you intend to go along, please email sarah@sarahwilsons.com.
Don’t forget, Trustee Penny Wilson (AssemblePlay) and Chair Siôn Edwards (Y Fenter | The Venture) host a virtual reflective practice sessions most weeks via Zoom. Join the mailing list to receive the link and regular provocations on all things play and playwork.
A month ago, playworkers from across the UK (and beyond!) converged on the chalky southern coast of England for the Eastbourne Playwork Conference – the 20th of its kind, organised by Meynell Games. This year saw the conference move eastwards along the seafront to The Lansdowne hotel – a family-run hotel that proved to be a welcoming and comfortable home for us throughout conference. The Playwork Foundation were pleased to be represented by many of our trustees as workshop facilitators and delegates, and we also put together special newsletter and survey for the occasion. To celebrate this as the first leg on “the road to Glasgow”, for the IPA conference later this year, we also made the decision to make membership to The Playwork Foundation FREE for 2023/24 – so JOIN US TODAY!
Trustee Ali Wood’s delivering her ‘A question of quality’ workshop in the Martello Room – part of Tuesday’s ‘The Legacy of Bob Hughes’ track
As always, the conference was a great opportunity for playworkers to come together, share ideas, and reflect on our practice and, particularly for The Playwork Foundation, to consider the future of our profession. Our trustees led a number of workshops that explored varying aspects of playwork, including the role of playworkers in supporting children’s wellbeing, the challenges and opportunities facing playwork in the UK, and even some wibbly-wobbly, timey-wimey, from Simon Rix that gave The Doctor and the TARDIS a run for their money. Another prominent theme and focus of thought throughout conference was Bob Hughes. A special area of reflection, with music stands displaying pieces of his work and a memorial book, occupied a part of the hotel and an entire track of the conference plan was dedicated to his legacy. Many of those workshops not on this track also paid tribute and utilised Bob’s theories and words to contextualise and drive discussion.
Trustees Penny Wilson, Siôn Edwards, Barbara McIlwrath, Ali Wood & Jackie Boldon
The Playwork Foundation too had our own track on Wednesday of the conference. In the morning, trustees Anne-Marie Mackin and Jackie Boldon led a workshop on what it is to be a playworker in the UK today. Accompanied by fellow trustees Siôn Edwards, Ali Wood, and Barbara McIlwrath, and a number of our members, Anne-Marie and Jackie navigated discussions including: an update from Outdoor Play And Learning (OPAL) Founder and Director, Michael Follett, including their development of 3 new playwork training initiatives; an update on the Undergraduate BA Hons in Childhood Development and Playwork at Leeds Beckett University from Ali Long; Trustee Barabara McIlwratth shared the playwork courses on offer at Belfast MET and shared some of the barriers facing providers in Northern Ireland – Barbara is also the playwork convener for UNITE the union which prompted discussion about pay and conditions for playworkers, including maintaining the link with JNC payscales; Nat Scyner of Ffit Conwy, Wales, shared the issue of short-term and inconsistent funding from Welsh Government and suggested it should instead be linked to the three year cycle of Play Sufficiency Assessments – there is also a lack of accessible introductory training beyond L2APP; finally, Trustee Simon Bazley gave an update on the National Occupation Standards [for playwork] (NOS) Scoping exercise he has recently carried out on behalf of the UK NOS Consortium – of the many observations, one was the importance of infrastructure funding for England.
Attendees of Playwork in Progress LIVE with Trustees Penny & Siôn
Finally, in the afternoon, Chair of The Playwork Foundation, Siôn Edwards, and Trustee Penny Wilson, presented a special hybrid edition of Playwork in Progress to wrap-up our time in Eastbourne and begin to reflect on the many talks, presentations, and discussions that had taken place over the previous two days. You can join Penny and Siôn most weeks for their free online reflective practice session by clicking here.
Photo from @LBUPlayworking – the Twitter account for the Childhood Development & Playwork team at Leeds Beckett. Tweets are mostly by Ali and Nicky though not always!
They may be a bit biased, but Tilia Guilbaud-Walter probably put it best with “Best 3 days of the year! Thankyou all of you”. We couldn’t agree more! The conference succeeded in delivering upon expectations and, if anything, exceeded them. The diversity of speakers and workshops, and the incredible venue, really made Eastbourne 2023 a delight! Thank you to Meynell and all his team for their incredible contribution to the sector. We look forward to supporting the next conference and seeing you in Eastbourne in 2024 (if we don’t see you in Glasgow first!).
At a time when the cost-of-living is a real concern, investing the time and money into attending conferences can be a very tough and, for some, impossible decision. With Glasgow just around the corner, we are all too aware that however many playworkers couldn’t make it to Eastbourne, there will be just as many (if not mroe) who cannot reach Glasgow.
To help lower the costs, IPA Cymru are offering their members bursaries to attend. Applications are open until 14/04/23 – email ipacymru@playwales.org.uk to request an application form.
For playworkers not in Wales, please consider contacting your own branch of IPA (if you are a member) or your national play board if you will struggle to finance your attendance at IPA Glasgow 2023.
The Playwork Foundation 