A 3 year Government Investment of £235 million was made available in April 2008 as part of a major investment in children’s play spaces in England.
In the first wave, 43 Local Authorities were awarded Playbuilder status and granted £1.1 million to help improve their play facilities over a 3 year period. Each authority has been tasked to deliver approximately 23 play areas as identified in their plan submitted to the DCFS and overseen by Play England.
In a change to the original timetable Children’s Minister Ed Balls announced that the £30 million due to be spent in 2010/2011 would be brought forward to 09/10 in a drive to continue investment in the construction industry during the current economic down turn.
Proludic worked closely with Local Authorities to advise on the process and implementation of this investment. The timescale given for the first year spend presented a challenge to many wave 1 authorities. Proludic developed a series of tools to help deliver the programme. Procurement systems, consultation advice and events, play area audits and play area design advice were provided and are available for those authorities embarking on the next wave of investment.
Proludic were proud to have installed the first Playbuilder site in Taunton Deane in conjunction with Swan Paul Landscape Architects, and the site is featured in the Play Strategy published in December 2008 with video commentary on the DCFS website.
Proludic have worked on a number of multiple site contracts and supply of equipment for the following Wave 1 playbuilders: Nottinghamshire County, Leicester, Kirklees, Kerrier, Bolton, Gateshead, Wandsworth, Calderdale, Northamptonshire, Reading and Thurrock.
Proludic have also worked with key industry figures to run a series of education seminars to support individuals tasked with implementing the programme. Key speakers included Aileen Shackell, Tim Gill and Adam White, with representatives from FIT and RoSPA.