Playing projects
Play is a serious issue. Current research suggests that one in five children in England are overweight by the time they start primary school, and the youngsters of today’s ‘Playstation generation’ are significantly less fit than those of a decade ago. Clearly, encouraging safe and active outdoor play is a good thing for childrens’ health. However, it is also a fundamental part of their development; the freedom to explore, take risks, to work together …in fact, a lot of the things they need to learn as part of growing up.
In December 2008 the Government published the first national Play Strategy, committing £235 million to improve and develop play areas throughout the country. The 10-year national strategy was based on consultation with thousands of children, young people, parents and professionals, and outlined objectives for the right to play for all children.
Cornwall was ahead of the game here; in 2007 it published its own Play Strategy setting out an ambition of providing all children and teenagers living in or visiting the place with high quality recreational opportunities, and as a result received Big Lottery funding to start achieving that.
In 2008 Cornwall was designated a ‘Play Pathfinder’, and awarded a slice of that new national funding to upgrade 31 play sites across three years.
Cornwall Council’s Play Pathfinder Manager, Jo Howard, says: “We have supported community groups to do this for themselves by engaging with young people to change play spaces – and hopefully creating a legacy of renewed appreciation of the importance of play.”
One is at Trescobeas in Falmouth – known locally as ‘The Dump’. The design company Mor created the installations for a play area and a cycle track, but all based on children’s ideas drawing on the site’s past as a waste tip; a ‘litter’ of cans, Smartie tubes and discarded Lego – even a half-buried car.
MOR landscape architect Michael Hawes says: “The site was prone to vandalism – but there has been no graffiti since they were decorated during a community painting day. It’s a classic example of the effect of giving people involvement in the design and implementation of their environment.”
It also had the result – much as Dott intended – of galvanising people to think bigger. Now that’s been done, maybe the field could have a wildlife reserve…a community hall…? Wallace Aitchison, a member of the local residents’ association, says: “It’s had a great effect on the neighbourhood, prompting more thoughts about how the community can work together, find more funding and achieve more.”
Dott Cornwall also played its part – with a project that sparked new interest in the wider potential of active kids.
Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly have themselves become a giant adventure playground for adults exploiting the natural advantages of sea and scenery to enjoy themselves ever more imaginatively and energetically.
20 years ago, when Newquay’s traditional bucket and spade family market was in decline, some traditional hoteliers regarded surfers with suspicion, even as a nuisance. Now the town – and the rest of Cornwall - welcomes surfers….and kite-surfers, paragliders, wakeboarders, coasteerers. All of whom have spawned new enterprises and opportunities from instruction academies to clothing and equipment manufacturers and providers. As getting cold and wet is part of the deal anyway, they offer the holy grail of the tourism industry – the shift from seasonal summer visit to year-round destination haven.
And now, elder is the new younger; we’re active and seeking greater fulfilment throughout our longer lives – and prepared to pay for it – whether that be a Springtime amble around the chain of Great Gardens of Cornwall or an Autumn hike on the necklace of South West coastal path trimming the fringe.
Theresa Timms, of VisitCornwall, says: “Across the past decade occupation rates have doubled in the shoulder months – a key element in developing a sustainable tourism industry, both economically and environmentally. That’s being achieved through cleverer marketing, festival and event development – and by having world class attractions with a really strong design and branding presence like the Tate, Eden and the National Maritime Museum Cornwall.”
Through Serious Play
