Play Torbay Newsletter Spring 2023
Life moves quickly here at Play Torbay with lots of new developments and ideas emerging all the time and we thought it would be nice to have a newsletter to keep you up to date with what has been going on in the background and all the exciting new developments. So here we are.
Welcome to the first edition our new termly newsletter.
Playground Improvements
There have been so many exciting projects going on. Already this year we have been successful in getting £15,000 from the Community Fund and £5000 COMF Covid Safe funding from Torbay Council to help us improve the playgrounds. Work has already started on this and so far we have:
The broken swing has beenremoved and new poles erected, that offer lot of play potential with loose parts.
The large shed has now been removed…. The space that this now creates offers lots of possibilities.
At Indigos:
Removed the old, dangerous structure
Repaired the bath swing
Installed a small kitchen storage shed next to the cabin
Installed some large upright poles for play with loose parts
And we are building a large, multi purpose poly tunnel in the old garden area.
At Wild Fox we are planning to:
Dismantle the vandalised shed and the shed on the treehouse.
Build a fence around the tree house to make it safe.
Secure the treehouse steps Install upright poles for play with loose parts.
Tidy the fire pit structure.
Indigos Play & Ecology Centre
We are also very excited to tell you that, inspired by our young people, we have made a commitment to protect the planet and develop Indigos as an ecology and natural play centre. We are aiming to create a space where we can inspire positive environmental change by encouraging people to engage with nature in an informal play and learning environment. We are planning to launch this later this year. We were also recently successful securing a Devon in Earth grant to help kick start this process. With all this in mind we have launched our first Forest School sessions for home education groups. This has been really popular with lots of great feedback from both children and parents.
As we have developed the Forest School and ecology centre we have put a lot of thought into what we want to achieve and our main principles are set out briefly below:
We are raising awareness of the impact we have on climate change and how our actions can make a positive difference.
We are increasing awareness of energy issues and improve energy efficiency.
We are encouraging the whole community to make responsible food related choices.
We are raising awareness of the flora and fauna in our immediate environment and exploring ways to increase biodiversity.
We are promoting the health and wellbeing of young people and the wider community by encouraging them to make environmental connections for their health and wellbeing.
We are raising awareness of transport issues and encouraging practical solutions to make change possible.
We are raising the awareness of the impact of waste on the environment and exploring ways to minimise waste.
We are raising awareness of the importance of water both locally and globally and demonstrating how simple actions can cut down on water use.
We’re moving house!
After six years at The Barn we are moving the office to a lovely new home - at Indigos. We have a had our own post box fitted and everything and hope to have completed the move by the end of April. Our new address is: Play Torbay, Rowan Way (see, even the address fits our ecological ethos better!) Brixham, TQ5 0BS.
Holiday Activities and Food Programme 2023
We are really excited to have been awarded a major grant for the Holiday Activities and Food Programme 2023. Now we can run a bumper packed Easter and Summer programme of events at Indigos in Brixham, Wild Fox in Paignton and also Torquay, we aren’t sure of the venue yet in Torquay but watch this space.
Last year we received over 3000 children and young people who came along during the summer schemes and had an amazing time, thanks to you. We think this year will be even bigger and better. As part of the prgramme we are offering free ‘Playtime’ Playwork training on the 23rd March in Torquay for anyone interested working and supporting children's play. If you’d like a place on this training just book free tickets.
We hope you enjoyed this first newsletter. We are always interested in your opinions and ideas so please let us know if you have anything you would like to share.
