Play & Activity August 2019

Time to put children and young people first with ministerial appointment

The Association of Play Industries (API) attended a dinner at the House of Lords to launch a campaign for the appointment of a Cabinet Minister for Children and Young People.

Life Peer Baroness D’Souza is spearheading the campaign and brought together the working group of leading organisations in the field to brainstorm next steps.

Standing in for API Chair Mark Hardy, Mary Lubrano of the FSPA, pointred out that currently there is no one Minister responsible for the health and wellbeing of children and their needs are being neglected.

“Today’s children and young people are facing an unprecedented set of circumstances meaning that for many their mental and physical health is at crisis point,” she explained. The dominance of digital culture and rising levels of inactivity and obesity mean that this current generation could be the most unhealthy and unhappy to date.

“Central to the campaign is the recognition that joined-up action is urgently required; currently government departments work largely in isolation.

“A Cabinet Minister for Children and Young People would put children at the heart of politics and introduce policies across departments which would directly benefit them.

“The event was an opportunity to update the group on the API’s Nowhere to Play and Movement for Movement campaigns: the dominance of digital culture has created a strong inducement to stay indoors and, at the same time, there is a dramatic and sustained reduction in public outdoor play provision.

“For the overwhelming majority of UK children and young people living in urban areas, this is a dangerous cocktail; children are being ‘pulled’ indoors by screens and ‘pushed’ away from outdoor play because of the decline in accessible public playgrounds.

“In one of the most densely populated, urbanised countries in Europe, with ever-shrinking opportunities for children to play outdoors, public playgrounds play a crucial role in improving children’s movement levels and, in turn, their physical and mental health.

Playgrounds uniquely provide a safe, traffic-free environment in and around our towns and

cities and for many children they represent their only chance for outdoor play.

“The API wants to see playgrounds prioritised before they disappear for good. As a resource to foster the health of children and young people –through movement and outdoor play – the role of public playgrounds should not be under-estimated.

For a relatively modest government investment now the health and wellbeing of children would benefi t greatly for years to come.

A dedicated Cabinet Minister for Children and Young People would be ideally placed to effect policies to ensure that playgrounds are protected.”

Association of Play

Parents have ‘no time’ to take kids to the park New 10-minute Shake Ups to make activity fun

To mark the launch of #LoveParks Week, Keep Britain Tidy called on parents across the UK to make time to visit their local green space with their child, as research shows a whopping 75% of children would like to spend more time outdoors.

The research reveals that children in Britain visit outdoor spaces an average of three times a week, with four out of five parents (80%) admitting they would like their child to spend more time outside.

When it comes to barriers to children spending time outdoors, the top reason given by parents was that they don’t have time to take their children to the park.

As a result, classic outdoor skills children often learn in the park could be on the decline, with the research indicating that over a third (34%) of children have never learnt to ride a bike, and almost half (49%) have never climbed a tree.

Love Parks Week in midJuly celebrated and highlights not just major UK parks, but unexpected areas of greenery, ensuring outdoor space is accessible for all.

Chief Executive Allison Ogden-Newton said: “Parks and green spaces are an essential part of childhood.

Millions of schoolchildren will be inspired to get physically active this summer thanks to the latest phase of the groundbreaking partnership between Change4Life and Disney.

New 10 Minute Shake Ups, featuring a host of popular Disney characters from the hit films Frozen, The Lion King and Toy Story 4 have been distributed to primary schools to help teachers embed activity into their daily school routine at times when pupils are usually sedentary, including assembly and between lessons.

Packs will also be given to children to take home so they can continue to keep active over the summer. Tim Hollingsworth, Sport England’s chief executive, hailed the campaign’s return as a vital tool in helping children build a positive attitude to physical activity.

“Our recent research gives us the richest evidence yet that sport and physical activity needs to be fun and enjoyable above all because enjoyment is the biggest motivator for children in getting active,” he said.

Sport England

It’s great to see that, despite recent concerns about digital distractions,only19%ofchildren prefer playing on devices to exploringthegreatoutdoors.”

Green Flag Awards

The Land Trust teams up with MowMow to encourage more young people to get outdoors

The Land Trust has teamed up with MowMow to encourage children and families to spend more time outdoors.

MowMow is a new, free to download app, available on the Apple Store and Android Google Play store, which combines technology with a good old fashioned game of hide and seek resulting in a fun activity that gets children moving outside in the real world.

The app builds on the popular children’s activity of painting rocks and leaving them for people to find. While there are a number of active Facebook groups where people share the rocks they have hidden or found players can’t currently track where their rocks are or who has found them.

This is where MowMow comes in. The new app will allow players to log where they hide their rocks and will be notified whenever their rock is found by someone playing the game. The rock even springs to life in rich augmented reality too!

Alan Carter, Director of Portfolio management for the Land Trust, explained why the partnership between the Land Trust and MowMow was a natural fit.

“We’re delighted to be teaming up with MowMow to launch this fantastic initiative and we hope it will make a real difference and inspire young people and their families to get outside and enjoy spending time together in the outdoors.

“We know that spending time outdoors in green space

has a myriad of physical and mental health benefits and it’s absolutely vital that young people develop the routine of spending time in the natural environment at the earliest possible stage and develop this habit in order to ensure that they enjoy healthy, active lives.

“However in order to encourage this, children must have positive, and most importantly fun, experiences and this is where apps like MowMow are so important.

“In this digital world, with many young people having access to mobile phones and tablets, to be able to combine an online game with spending time in green space is an ideal solution and we look forward to a successful partnership with MowMow and working with them on our sites across the country.”

The new app will be officially with an event on the Land Trust site at Wellesley Woodlands with hundreds of children

expected to attend and will be followed at events at other Land Trust sites across the country.

Matt Faulkner CMO and Cofounder at MowMow said: “We are delighted to be teaming up with the Land Trust, an organisation that shares our passion for getting children spending more time outdoors and encouraging an active lifestyle.

“The game is already incredibly popular but our app will take things one step further, allowing families to plan their routes, share photos when they find the rocks, and track their step count along the way.

“MowMow is a country wide initiative and we hope that our first event at Wellesley Woodlands will trigger a chain reaction within schools, local communities, children’s clubs and families in general to encourage each other to get involved and get active.”

The Land Trust

Resin bound Addaset for communal area at school

Addagrip approved contractor Total Protection (GB) Ltd was invited to install over 1700m 2 of BBA approved Addaset Resin Bound surfacing as part of the redevelopment of the former Minchenden School site in Southgate.

As part of the works to convert an area of the site into a school for

upper end aged secondary autistic pupils, Total Protection (GB) Ltd was appointed by Thomas Sinden to install a resilient, seamless, porous surfacing for the external communal areas in contrasting colours.

The client chose to proceed with a 6mm Dorset Gold for the majority of the surface with a

contrasting 6mm Lucerne Silver for the benched seating areas.

Work was completed over a period of 6 non-consecutive days to meet the client’s deadline to ensure that the new surface was ready for the opening of the school.

Outdoor Musical InstrumentsIn Tune With Nature

Our finely crafted outdoor percussion instruments make a striking addition to any play area.

Budding musicians of all ages and abilities will want to try their hand on the giant drums, chimes and xylophones.

All instruments are carefully tuned to the same key, allowing players to explore sounds and rhythms in pairs or groups.

The EN1176 compliant designs are built to last, using materials that are guaranteed to retain

their musical and visual qualities over many years. We supply preassembled steel and timber frame models with full

instructions for installing into any surface.

Acoustic Arts

Addagrip

Multigenerational moveart playsculpture tackles challenges of modern family life in public space

Playrite aces it for Tennis Word with Matchplay 2

In the UK over 1.7 million people play tennis every month with 20% of those playing in clubs and 28% playing in leisure centres, with a staggering 5.4 million playing at least once a year.

Thanks to companies like Tennis World accessibility to grass roots tennis has now been well-established making it enjoyable, open, welcoming and relevant to everyone.

Tennis World would ultimately choose Yorkshire-based Playrite to supply their Matchplay 2 product to meet and surpass their stringent requirements.

“This was important to us as in the North East of England as we have so much bad weather.

Swiss moveart playsculpture are the latest innovative brand to be added to All Urban’s designer brand portfolio.

All Urban are dedicated to equipping landscape architects and urban designers with products such as these to achieve their mission of improving the quality in public space and moveart playsculptures are perfect for this. Moveart playsculpture are the original inventors for these interactive multiuse art objects which encourage fun and exploration for all. These objects create living spaces where young and old come together in a playful way… including grandparents.

The large-format, walk-in playsculptures inspire shared experimentation, creative movement, carefree communication or simply relaxation. These qualities bring a natural animation to urban spaces and help them to become places of rest, encounters and enjoyment for the whole family.

Ideal for city streets, plazas and squares, public parks and gardens, river and canal sides, patios, terraces, rooftops and courtyards, urban planners can choose from a set of beautifully designed standardised

sculptures or work together with moveart playsculpture ® to design bespoke forms which synthesise with a local landscape and community. Their versatility in form makes them ideal for small compact public spaces which want to cultivate more engagement.

The beautiful forms are inspired by the shape of the double helix, whose geometry symbolises the adaptability of life. Alluring in form, they have a harmonising and stimulating effect both on humans and on their material and natural surroundings making them perfectly suited for enriching public spaces.

The fascinating shapes contribute to the character of a space, their beauty can encourage families to walk and cycle bringing huge health and wellbeing benefits to everyone involved. These sustainable forms are manufactured from exceptionally durable accoya wood, and therefore have an extremely long life and keep maintenance to minimum. They are designed and manufactured in accordance with European safety standards for playground equipment SN EN 1176.

All Urban

Pitch and gym encourage the next Olympians

Basildon sport has received a shot in the arm following the opening of a near £1m scheme at Everyone Active’s Eversley Leisure Centre.

Witham-based ETC Sports Surfaces has installed new 3G football pitches and floodlights for 11-, nine-, seven- and fivea-side football, while contractor Morgan Sindall focused on the centre’s internal development.

The sports hall has been transformed into a state-of-the-art gym to add to the Basildon Sporting Village base of South Essex Gymnastic Club (SEGC) that has turned out star members, including Max Whitlock, Amy Tinkler and Brinn Bevan.

Basildon Council has invested £570,000 in the first outdoor allweather pitch in Pitsea, combined with £230,000 from SEGC and £123,900 from the Veolia Pitsea Marshes Maintenance Trust. The full size 3G football pitch allows

play all year round and provides players with the look and feel of natural turf and all the benefits of a hardwearing, weather and studresistant surface.

ETC worked alongside Zaun Ltd, who manufactured and supplied its Duo8 Super Rebound sports fencing system and gates to surround the pitch. Duo8 Super Rebound forms a robust play area that is highly durable, low maintenance and ‘graffiti-proof’, with great rebound properties similar to a wall and rubber inserts between panels and posts to keep ‘rattle’ during play to a minimum.

Councillor Kevin Blake, Basildon Council’s chairman of the leisure, culture and environment committee, said: “The development of a second gymnastics hub for the borough is a great opportunity for young people to try the sport for the first time.”

Zaun

Tennis World have recently upgraded their playing surfaces at their state-of-the art facility in Middlesbrough.

In the past Tennis World has served up several Wimbledon aces, now Middlesbrough’s largest independent tennis club has had its first makeover in 30 years.

In 2018 Tennis World was given a six-figure “New lease of life” with world-standard indoor and outdoor courts. Tennis World is unique in having 4 indoor and 6 outdoor courts.

Playrite is a division of National Floorcoverings, a UK family owned group of companies dating back to 1873. The business has a combined experience in a vast array of flooring types. Playrite is the only UK company to develop, design and manufacture all three types of artificial surface for sports and leisure, Tufted, Needlepunch and Woven.

Nigel Garton, Centre Manager, Tennis World commented: “We opted for the Playrite Matchplay 2 product for a few reasons. Outdoors we wanted an allweather medium paced artificial grass surface.”

He added; “We had visited various venues and tried various surfaces in the winter as we needed a surface which was playable during or immediately after rain.

“We decided we wanted a needlepunch surface as our research revealed this would be the hardest wearing medium-paced product and would be a great surface for all ages and standards.

“Also, Playrite are the only company using green and purple which we wanted as my research told me purple is the polaropposite colour to the yellow ball but also the colours look very good.

“The Playrite surfaces are excellent both in and outdoors. As soon as it stops raining outside you can play on them. Also, the bounce and comfort indoors are second to none.”

Ken Smith, Area Sales Manager, Playrite Ltd, commented: “Our Matchplay 2 surface was initially recommended by a technical consultant known to Nigel Garton at Tennis World.

“We visited Tennis World with sample products and supporting information plus further research. A visit by Tennis World staff to an existing tennis club using Matchplay 2 influenced their final decision.”

On challenges about the installation Ken Smith went on to further comment: “We had to ensure that the purple court colour fibre which was not a standard colour at that time could be sourced, manufactured and approved by Tennis World, all within budget and on time.

“A great tennis surface needs to be tested to industry standards with a performance level to suit specific club and player requirements. It’s also crucial to have a no-nonsense installation, aesthetically pleasing, low maintenance and be made in the UK.We developed an excellent working relationship with Tennis World by supplying a good line of communication and support throughout the specification and installation process.”

Playrite

Gerflor serves up success for table tennis club

The Goodwin Development Trust is an organisation committed to improving the quality of life within the communities of Hull.

Its Octagon Centre includes a state-of-the-art multi-use sports area, providing a range of sports facilities such as floor space for the Goodwin Table Tennis Club (GTTC) to practise and play on.

Providing a suitable playing surface for the GTTC would involve a local flooring installer supplying 300m2of top-quality flooring from international flooring specialist Gerflor.

It would prove to be an ideal project perfectly suited to Gerflor’s world-renowned Taraflex Table Tennis Floor.

Hull-based Floorcovers UK Limited specialise in commercial/domestic wall and floor coverings.

They have a wealth of experience and knowledge in fitting all types of flooring and wall coverings to a high standard.

Dave Randerson, Chairman Goodwin Table Tennis Club commented; “We wanted the best international table tennis standard flooring we could afford to make this new venue the best playing conditions in the town and surrounding Yorkshire area.

“We hoped to attract higher level table tennis matches to the venue. With the new Gerflor floor and support of the Goodwin Trust we believe we have done this.”

Engineered and developed in partnership with the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) Taraflex Table Tennis Floor is available in a ready to go, easy to install portable playing surface (3.7 mmthick) and a permanent format (4.5 mm or 6.2 mmthick).

It provides excellent player comfort and protection with its structured embossing made for perfect footing.

When playing racket sports, the floor is part of the game. It should offer an excellent compromise between slide and grip for lateral moves, accelerations and changes of direction.

The Taraflex Table Tennis Floor (6.5mm thick permanent solution) provides a P1 level of shock absorption to EN 14904 (25% ≤ P1 < 35%) and has a ball bounce value of EN 12235 ≥ 90%. Both the portable and 6.2mm thick permanent solutions come with Triple Action Protecsol surface treatment for easy maintenance, friction-burn protection and an ‘intelligent’ sliding coefficient.

Gerflor

Go Ape! wins first-ever RoSPA Leisure Trophy for health and safety practices

Go Ape!, which has 34 activity sites across the UK, has been handed a prestigious award in recognition of its practices and achievements in managing risks at its sites.

The company has won the new RoSPA Leisure Trophy, sponsored by Sportscover, which is part of the internationallyrenowned RoSPA Health and Safety Awards, and which celebrates organisations that embrace and appropriately manage risks in leisure settings.

David Walker, RoSPA leisure safety manager, said: “Go Ape! demonstrated executive-level leadership and, importantly, engagement with risk. They were very clear about their appetite for risk with both staff and visitors, informing everyone of potential risks and their benefits, which is fundamental to this Leisure Safety Trophy win.”

Established in 2001 by exArmy tank commander Tristram Mayhew and wife Rebecca, Go Ape! has branched out across the country. It offers people the chance to take part in forest adventures, either high up among the trees or on woodland paths.

Linda Green, head of health and safety at Go Ape! said: “Winning this award is a huge achievement and demonstrates our clear commitment, and proven performance, in managing risks to our staff, contractors, volunteers and visitors.

As well as the competitive Leisure Safety Trophy, RoSPA also presents non-competitive leisure safety achievement awards, which recognise excellence in health and safety management among companies that primarily offer services direct to guests and visitors. This year, De Vere, Go Ape!, K:A Leisure and Nottingham City Council – Sport and Leisure all picked up a Gold Award, while East Kilbride Shopping Centre, Gedling Borough Council –Leisure Services, Meadowhall Centre Ltd and Zoological Society of London all won Silver Awards.

The RoSPA Awards scheme, which receives entries from organisations around the world, recognises achievement in health and safety management systems, including practices such as leadership and workforce involvement.

The majority of awards are non-competitive and mark achievement at merit, bronze, silver and gold levels. Gold medals, president’s awards, orders of distinction and the patron’s award are presented to organisations sustaining the high standards of the gold level over consecutive years.

Julia Small, RoSPA’s head of qualifications, awards and events, said:

with

awards this year including the Leisure Safety Awards, the Safe@Work Safe@ Home Award and the Inspiration Awards. Highly-respected, with almost 2,000 entrants every year, RoSPA award winners benefit from the wide-ranging rewards of improved sector reputation.”

sponsors and

The majority of awards are noncompetitive and mark achievement at merit, bronze, silver and gold levels. Gold medals, president’s awards, orders of distinction and the Patron’s Award are presented to organisations sustaining the high standards of the gold level over consecutive years.

Competitive awards go to the best entries in 24 industry sectors including construction, healthcare, transport and logistics, engineering, manufacturing and education.

There are specialist awards for health at work, environmental management and fleet safety, and excellence trophies for the best international, new entry, workforce involvement and organisation operating or based in Scotland. RoSPA’s top accolade is the Sir George Earle Trophy.

Headline sponsor of the RoSPA Awards 2019 is NEBOSH – the National Examination Board in Occupational Safety and Health –for the 14th consecutive year.

“Go Ape! is a high-risk activity, and winning this award is testament to our incredibly robust health and safety management system.”

“The

RoSPA

Awards have become the key fixture in the health and safety calendar

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RoSPA