We have a story in today’s Nottingham Evening Post – about our new street play project starting in April.

The project will run three street play sessions a week in Radford, St Ann’s and Clifton – held in local streets, parks and open spaces.

Find out more by reading the story in full

We’re very proud to announce that we’ve been awarded almost £70,000 from Children in Need to run a new three-year street play project in Nottingham.

The project is due to start in April with playworkers from Playworks leading street play sessions for children three times a week in Radford, St Ann’s and Clifton – in partnership with parents.

The sessions will be held in streets, parks and open spaces and will give children the chance to enjoy playing freely outside, in both urban and natural environments.

Activities on offer will include traditional street games such as skipping, conkers, hopscotch and ‘duck duck goose’ as well as sports like football, cricket and hockey and arts and crafts using natural materials such as clay model making.

The sessions will also include activities that today’s children often miss out on because they’re considered ‘too risky’ such as building a campfire and making a den.

The aim of the project is to give children the chance to play freely outside more often, in their own communities.

Only 21% of children play outside in the street or an area close to their homes now, compared with 71% of children from the last generation.

To find out more about some of the reasons for this and how the project will benefit local children:

Read the press release in full
Call Laura Summers on 0115 958 9199
Email laura.summers@playworks.org.uk

You can now buy recycled arts and crafts materials from our Scrapstore and Art Shop with a debit or credit card – which we hope will make life a little bit easier for you!

Our Scrapstore is home to an amazing range of materials which would otherwise have gone to waste, including cardboard, paper, fabric, plastic and all kinds of weird and wonderful things – you name it, we’ve got it!

We’ve also got an Art Shop which sells affordable arts and crafts materials and has equipment such as badge makers for hire.

Best of all, prices start from just £1 for a basketful of scrap.

Click here to find out more about our Scrapstore

As well as materials, our Scrapstore is also the place for lots of creative arts and crafts ideas – whether you’re a parent, volunteer, community group, play organisation, school, nursery or play professional.

Come along and see for yourself – simply click the link above for opening times and contact info.

Playworks’ Senior Manager, Liz Asher, was interviewed by the national magazine Children & Young People Now recently – about how play providers around the UK are battling to maintain free services despite the funding cuts.

The magazine got in touch with Liz after hearing about our new project to train local people as volunteer play workers.

The article also featured other play providers and Catherine Prisk, Chief Executive of Play England.

It’s great to be able to talk about what Playworks is doing nationally and hopefully give Nottingham a louder voice when it comes to campaigning for children’s right to play.

To read the article please visit the Children & Young People Now website (please note: you need to be subscribed to read articles in full).

Don’t forget we’ve got a free Cultural Olympiad-themed event to help increase and develop play opportunities for children and young people from Nottingham’s Black and Minority Ethnic (BME) communities – on Tuesday 20th March from 10am to 1pm at Playworks, Alfred Street North, NG3 1AE.

The event is open to anyone who currently provides, or is interested in providing, play opportunities for children and young people from diverse communities – including schools, nurseries, community groups, parents and volunteers.

You’ll be able to pick up ideas for how to create exciting arts and crafts activities from around the world for children and young people, inspired by this summer’s Olympic Games, Paralympic Games and the Cultural Olympiad.

The London 2012 Cultural Olympiad is the largest cultural celebration in the history of the modern Olympic and Paralympic movements and it’s been running since 2008. The four-year programme of cultural activity has included national and local projects around the UK, focusing on art, film, music, museum, library and archive collections and natural, built and historic landscapes.

The event will also be a chance to find out more about Playworks’ BME Play Development Network.

Lunch will be provided free of charge at the event.

To book or for more information, call Playworks on 0115 958 9199 or email:

laura.summers@playworks.org.uk 

Click here to read the official press release in full!

Come and join Playworks for it’s Saturday Scrapstore opening!

3rd March, 10-1pm @ Playworks

Whether you are familiar with our Scrapstore and Art Shop, or just wanting to find out what a Scrapstore is, you are welcome to pop along. We will be providing free children’s activities, and refreshments.

For more information on the Scrapstore visit here, or if you would like to talk to our friendly staff team, call 0115 958 9199

20^th March 2012, 10-1pm @ Playworks

We all know the Olympics are nearly upon us! Join Playworks to celebrate the cultural side to the summer games, with craft ideas from countries around the world!

We also want to know your opinion on the network. How useful do you find it? What do you want to see?

Download flyer here

Lunch provided. To book or for more information, call Playworks on 0115 958 9199 or email: info@playworks.org.uk

Important news from Nottingham City Council:

Voluntary, community and statutory groups across the city have a final chance to pick up a selection of FREE books to use or give away.

The remaining selection of books are for adults.

The session will take place on Thursday 1st March, 3-5pm at Eastcroft depot, London Road. Any group that would like to come along to the big book pick up sessions must book a place by e-mailing:

heidi.shewell-cooper@nottinghamcity.gov.uk by 4pm the day before.

Hundreds have already been donated to local organisations during two big book pick up sessions which took place earlier this year.

Anne Stevenson, Secretary of the Heathfield Park Community Association said:

“Everyone was thrilled to receive books from The Big Book Pick Up – Thank you!”

Glen Jarvis, Service User & Carer Involvement Officer from Nottingham’s Crime and Drugs Partnership, said:

“We had around 50 women attend our Women’s Health Day and the books were extremely popular.”

Councillor David Mellen, Portfolio Holder for Children’s Services, said:

“We’ve had a fantastic response from people who have taken advantage of the Big Book Drop scheme which has played an important role in spreading the joy of reading all over Nottingham.”

The Big Book Drop saw Nottingham people donate books at a number of drop-off points across the city. Over 8,000 books were donated through the scheme, smashing the Council’s 5,000 target. Books have been distributed to Children’s Centres, Doctor and Dentist Surgeries, on the tram and other locations across the city where reading for pleasure can be encouraged and enjoyed.

The scheme was played a key part in the council’s Year of Reading campaign which formally came to an end during Light Night. For more details about the Big Book Drop and the Year of Reading visit:

www.mynottingham.gov.uk/reading

Every parent wants their child to have a happy, healthy childhood but providing play opportunities for children can be hard work for families struggling with the rising cost of food, transport and household bills for example.

According to The Campaign to End Child Poverty, more than one in three children in Nottingham are growing up in poverty.

To help, we’re offering to help parents who want to set up their own community play projects.

Playworks has been supporting children’s play in Nottingham for over 30 years and we’ve already helped to set up play projects in communities around the city.

One of these projects is Kidz United, an after-school club in the Meadows that provides play activities and support for local children, particularly children from asylum-seeking families in Nottingham.

Helen Coppins from Kidz United says: 

“Kidz United has been running since 2010, after local parents decided to set up a project offering play and support to children in the Meadows. Playworks has been involved from the start and has helped us to make our ideas a reality. 

For instance, Playworks has provided free training for our volunteers and low-cost craft materials as well as an abundance of ideas. They’ve also helped us to research funding options and to complete funding application forms. 

Today, Kidz United runs between two and three sessions a week, providing play and support to around 80-100 children, with a workforce of over 20 volunteers. Playworks continues to support our project and has been an invaluable resource to us.”

Playworks can help new projects to start up or provide support to develop existing ones. 

For example, we provide free training for play project staff and volunteers so that they can learn practical and useful skills around play including arts and crafts, therapeutic play, first aid, group development and safeguarding children.

We can also provide projects with trained, CRB-checked volunteers.

As you probably know, we run a Scrapstore too offering affordable recycled arts and crafts materials and an Art Shop. Play projects like Kidz United can buy a basketful of recycled arts and crafts materials for just £1, enabling them to run creative activities for children without having to worry about the cost.

If you’re interested in starting a community play project for children, young people or families – or you already run one and would like more support, please contact:

Laura Summers at Playworks on 0115 958 9199 or email laura.summers@playworks.org.uk 

Click here to read the press release in full

What kind of training would you like in the future?

Please help us to deliver the training that you need by taking a few minutes to complete our training audit. Your views really will make a difference. 

You can email your completed survey to info@playworks.org.uk or if you prefer the post, please send it to Playworks, Alfred Street North, St Ann’s, Nottingham, NG3 1AE.

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