The Playbuilder programme began in April 2009 following the successful submission of a project proposal bid to the Department for Children, Schools and Families.
The Year 1 grant target was to complete 11 new or substantially refurbished play areas. For more information on those 11 projects click on the attachment 'playbuilder year 1 report' on this page.
Year 2 funding was withdrawn by the government in July 2010. Since then we have received notification that reduced funding will be available. We are currently working on 12 projects across the county. For more information click on the attachment 'playbuilder year 2' on this page.
The Shropshire Play Partnership has been established with representatives from Shropshire Council Services including Culture and Leisure, Transport, Community Regeneration, Planning, and Children and Young People’s Services, plus external agencies such as SALC, The Children and Young People’s Voluntary Sector Forum, Shropshire Wildlife Trust, and Shropshire Youth Association attend regular meetings. Elected members on the partnership are Aggie Caesar-Homden (Chair), Steve Charmley (portfolio holder for culture and leisure) and Vince Hunt (Young Peoples champion)
The partnership’s role is to promote and coordinate the provision of high quality, inclusive play opportunities for all children and young people throughout Shropshire, including formal and informal, outdoor and indoor play.
Play England have commended Shropshire Play Partnership for the way in which it has involved children and young people to inform the design briefs for play areas and in selecting the successful tenders.
Finance
Over £850,000 has been invested during the last financial year to create exciting outdoor play spaces throughout the county.
£526,968 Playbuilder investment plus an additional £338,500 has been raised from Big Lottery, Natural England, Advantage West Midlands, Short Breaks, Community Spaces, Ruyton XI Towns Charter Group, ECAT funding, Market Drayton Town Council, Section 106 monies and Shropshire Council capital programme.
Measuring Success
A key measure of success is children’s satisfaction with parks and play areas (NI 199). This indicator is collected through the 'Tell Us' survey.
Prior to the Playbuilder project, the baseline figure for Shropshire was 37.6%, with a target for year 2009/10 of 42.5%.
The actual satisfaction level is 53% which is 1% less than the national average but slightly higher than our statistical neighbours. This is a significant increase in children’s satisfaction levels with outdoor play spaces, with investment from Playbuilder and other funding streams being a contributory factor.