HILLINGDON PLAY ASSOCIATION

Welbeck Community Resource Centre 14 Welbeck CourtWelbeck Avenue Hayes Middlesex, UB4 9EYregistered charity No. 1125445 registered company No. 06496912 (England & Wales)

T 020 88415322 EW

Media Release Release: Immediate

10 March 2014

Scrapstore PlayPod makes first appearance in Hayes School

John McDonnell, Member of Parliament and Chair of Hillingdon Play Association (HPA), officially opened the Scrapstore PlayPod at Cranford Park Academy in Hayes. At a windswept launch ceremony at the school on 14 February, guests had a first glimpse of what children can make of materials businesses routinely throw away, such as giant flexible tubes, old tyres, netting, phones, plastic grates, keyboards and chairs.

HPA – a voluntary organisation promoting free play opportunities in the borough – worked in partnership with Cranford Park Academy to open the first Scrapstore Playpod in the London Borough of Hillingdon. The company Children’s Scrapstore is behind the concept which has already been hugely successful in encouraging children of all ages to play together, build friendships and reduce playground disputes. The PlayPod project was funded by Heathrow Community Fund.

Craig Horseman – Deputy Principalat Cranford Park Academy said:

"The introduction of the PlayPod has had a highly positive impact on the quality of the play provision we offer to the children. The children love the opportunities that the scrap in the PlayPod provides to be inventive and to experiment. They enjoy lunchtimes even more, and using the PlayPod is helping them to learn key life skills such as resilience, team work and managing risk".

Ravinder Chander, Chair of Governors, was equally enthusiastic:

"It is fantastic to see children using their imaginations in a technology-driven world. The PlayPod has demonstrated that using creativity and imagination with your friends can be as rewarding as a games console. It is great to see social skills being enhanced."

John McDonnell MP added:

“We are extremely grateful to Heathrow Community Fund for their financial support which has enabled Hillingdon Play Association and Cranford Park Academy to bring the Scrapstore PlayPod to the first school in Hayes. We hope it will be the first of many in schools across the borough.”

In their presentations to the invited guests, Head Girl Sarah Mezrit and Head Boy Zuhayr Mohsen both stressed that the PlayPod enables children of all ages to play together, and that scrap materials are given a new life through children’s play.

Also present were Steve Ronald, Heathrow Communities Trust Chair, and Punam Kharbanda, Heathrow Communities Trust Trustee.

Notes to the editor

  1. HPA isa voluntary organisation which advocates and supports, promotes and coordinates the provision of quality play provision for children and young people in the London Borough of Hillingdon. Formed in October 2002, the Hillingdon Play Network was formally constituted as Hillingdon Play Association in September 2005. HPA, with funding from diverse sources, organises outdoor play activities for children around the borough and on some housing estates. Most recently it has conducted training programmes creating Hillingdon Play Ambassadors among adults and young people, aiming to ‘build communities through play’. It has held National Playdays and participated in Hillingdon events such as the Hayes Carnival where, together with volunteers, it created a Play Zone.
  1. HPA strongly supports the child’s right to play as a basic human right; we are here to protect, preserve, promote and seek implementation of Article 31 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child: “That every child has the right to rest and leisure, to engage in play and recreational activities appropriate to the age of the child and to participate freely in cultural life and the arts.

“That member governments shall respect and promote the right of the child to participate fully in cultural and artistic life and shall encourage the provision of appropriate and equal opportunities for cultural, artistic, recreational and leisure activity.”

  1. HPA, together with members of the community, has developed the Hillingdon Play Pledge which is simple and powerful:

PLAY

  • Great for children
  • Great for the community
  • Essential for Hillingdon

We aim for Hillingdon to be a fully inclusive borough where all children can play in freedom, have fun, develop and enjoy themselves in safe yet adventurous spaces.

We will strive to ensure everyone understands the wider benefits of play and that play isessential for healthy, happy children, families and the well-being of all.

It is everyone’s responsibility to work together to make this happen.

  1. Media contact – for information about the scrapstore playpod project – please contact

Phil Doyle on 0773 483 7323

  1. Media contact – to arrange a viewing at the school – please contact Craig Horseman on

0208 573 3453

  1. Photos of launch ceremony attached.