Free Play Network text only homepage
This page with Graphics | News | About the Free Play Network | Join | Links | Search | PLAYLINK
Policy & Consultations | Playwork in Practice | Adventure Play | Play & Design
Welcome to the first edition of Free Play Network News, the newsletter of the Free Play Network. We aim to publish bimonthly with news and articles from and for the play sector. Free Play Network News welcomes contributions and comments from readers, so if you would like to suggest issues to cover or have comments on the articles included please let us know by emailing info@playlink.org.uk.
Playing out on the Street, Chris Snell visits a new initiative from Leeds Play Network.
No Policy but plenty of Pizza. Is a play policy essential to developing quality play opportunities?
The Free Play Network welcomes comments on all of the issues raised in this edition of Free Play Network News. Please send all comments to info@playlink.org.uk.
Free Play Network News was edited by Nicola Butler, Free Play Network Manager.
By Chris Snell, Free Play Network Officer
Last summer, bolstered by Children's Fund cash, Leeds Play Network piloted a bold new initiative. Twelve Playwork students from Leeds Metropolitan University worked in teams around the city to take play opportunities to where the children are. The teams worked in small parks and ran arts, games and craft activities on the streets, and anywhere they could find a child-friendly space.
"We are taking play opportunities to children who wouldn't otherwise access activities like this," says Frank O'Malley of Leeds Play Network. "We have lost about two thirds of our open access play facilities in the last five years and the only adventure playground shut down twelve years ago. This is in part due to the increase in demand for after school clubs and the consequent loss of skilled staff and volunteers."
Stephen Rennie of Leeds Metropolitan University says the initiative was a great success and a valuable piece of learning experience for the students. "Some found it very challenging. Arriving on a street corner with a group of kids and minimal equipment tests your creativity, especially if it is bucketing with rain."
Access all Areas
The children that took part tended to be kids who would not have gone to any other organised play setting. The intention of the project is not to take over the usual play activities that these children would have been doing on their own, but to offer a variety of opportunities, activities and ideas that they would otherwise be unable to access. The children always have the option of walking away if they don't like it.
Leeds Play Network have also, as part of the strategic review of play in the City, commissioned a major play audit. Focusing on a large area of East Leeds, that includes both dense urban and semi-rural settings, it involved children in assessing all the play opportunities available in the locality from fixed equipment playgrounds and staffed provision to informal wild spaces. The result is a snapshot of where and how children play in this area and an assessment of the quality of opportunities available to them. The report is not yet available but will be published on the Internet shortly.
By Chris Snell, Free Play Network Officer
A sense of context is crucial in developing children's playgrounds. Reflecting the surroundings in the design of a play space not only creates a feeling of harmony with the locality, but gives children the feeling that it is a good place to be, a place to feel comfortable in and to look after.
Bedford has a range of fixed equipment playgrounds and skate parks that other local authorities would die for. But, insists Steve Tomlin from the Borough Council, that is not because they have a huge capital budget. By incorporating good design and involving potential users, parents and community groups in the design and planning process they ensure that the facility is seen as an asset to the area and is valued and looked after by local people. This in its turn leads to less deliberate damage and the savings can be spent on improving play facilities.
Planting, trees, landscaping and interesting features make a place special. Bedford buy in a lot of standard equipment, but also design and build some of their own like balance logs and seating which makes the spaces different and more interesting. Some playgrounds even have their own artist-designed architectural features, like the fencing and seating made from old caterpillar tracks.
Pizza is an essential tool in the design process, as any fool knows. In Bedford local children and young people were invited to a meeting with free pizza to discuss ideas for local play facilities. The local ranger service alongside youth workers and their in-house designer thrash out what they would like to see, what is possible and what isn't. They often initially get asked for a theme park or swimming pool, but the young people can soon sort the good ideas out from the impractical ones. The fact that the youngsters are being listened to and given a chance to help shape their environment engenders a sense of ownership.
In the build process Bedford Borough Council recognises the importance, where possible, to start with the facilities for the older children. "I have seen it in so many other places," says Steve, "you build the area for small children, because that is the one with the most public demand and at best the older youngsters take it over, at worst they wreck it because they have nowhere else. If you start the other way round, and preferably separate the areas, you reduce that conflict and get less 'inappropriate use' and damage."
Bedford has no play policy document, and is reluctant to develop one. Staff and Councillors in Bedford have a commitment to play and to the consultation process that is borne out of experience of delivering play facilities for children that help improve the quality of life in local communities. They believe that laying down a policy document is often seen as an end in its own right and can limit the possibilities and scope of public consultation and the need to design each scheme individually for the local area.
The Free Play Network would like to hear from other play providers. Do you have a play policy? What are the pros and cons of developing a policy? Please let us know your views by contacting info@playlink.org.uk.
By Sandra Melville, PLAYLINK Director
Liability insurance cover is currently a problem for many play providers either because cover has been withdrawn or because premiums have gone through the roof. PLAYLINK and others are working with insurance companies, insurance brokers and claims lawyers to develop a better understanding of risk and risk management in play settings. We plan to hold a seminar with them in the summer to look at how to resolve the problems.
In the meantime, there is a new scheme negotiated between brokers Wren Astbury Associates and Norwich Union to provide cover specifically for adventure playgrounds, playing fields and fixed equipment playgrounds. The scheme will depend on the playground or playing field meeting certain good practice criteria in their own risk management. If you think this type of cover may be what you need, contact Wren Astbury through either Jonathan Sharrock (on 01244 356509) or John Dean (on 01244 356507).
In the long term, the way forward with insurance companies in general is likely to be through their recognition and providers' implementation of good risk management appropriate to their own type of provision. As part of this, play providers need not only to follow good practice but to be able to prove that they do, hence the title 'Write it down'. You should have an independent annual inspection of your site with a written report and a written statement of how you have acted on the report, signed off by the person with ultimate responsibility, say a senior manager, designated representative of the voluntary committee or board of trustees. If no immediate action is required, write that down and get it signed off. It is evidence that you have acted reasonably.
Similarly with your statutory duty to carry out a risk assessment. Write down your assessment process and results and what action is required, if any. If no action is required, write that down too and get it signed off. The point of all this is to ensure that you can provide the excitement and challenge that children and young people want - one of the aims of the Free Play Network. Taking this approach, you will be in a position to demonstrate to your potential insurer that you have appropriate procedures in place to manage the risks in your play setting at an acceptable level and are therefore insurable. In the current climate of fear about children and playgrounds, it will not be possible to stop unreasonable claims being made but, by following these procedures, you should have the evidence to enable your insurer to defend the claim on your behalf.
Don't forget to make use of the Play Safety Forum Statement Managing Risk in Play Provision when working out your own risk management policy and practice. Visit www.ncb.org.uk/library/cpis or call 020 7843 6303 to get a copy.
The scheme outlined above for insuring adventure playgrounds works on the basis that if playgrounds meet the criteria for good practice in risk management, they will get cover at a reasonable price. In practice, this means an annual independent site inspection, appropriate risk assessments and implementing a plan to manage the risks they identify. There is a recognised code of practice, Risk and Safety in Play, to support practice.
Is basing a scheme on the relevant good practice a model for other types of play provision? We will be exploring this approach with insurance companies. But would it work for your project? Is there good practice that you and insurers could rely on? Do you have a recognised code of practice or guidance? Please give us your reaction to these proposals by contacting info@playlink.org.uk.
© 2003 PLAYLINK.