SkillsActive Playwork South West

Facts and figures

From the Playwork People 3 survey in 2007, research into the region’s play workforce revealed that:

• Playwork is a female dominated profession in the South West, more than 4 out of 5 playworkers (84.6%) are women
• The South West has the largest proportion of play rangers compared to all other regions in England
• The majority of employers (67.9%) stated that they employed 10 or less full-time, part-time, paid or unpaid staff
• Almost four out of five (79.2%) playwork employers thought that the level of skill needed to do playwork jobs is increasing
• Nearly two thirds of all playwork employers in the region (65.4%) are experiencing a skills gap in their current workforce, this is higher than the proportion for England as a whole (48.0%)
• Nearly half (49.3%) of vacancies reported by respondents to the survey in the South West were described as hard-to-fill, with 'low number of applicants with the required skills' cited by 45.7% as one of the most likely reasons.

Introduction

SkillsActive Playwork South West falls under the umbrella of Playwork Partnerships. It is hosted by the University of Gloucestershire and is based at the Oxstalls Campus in Gloucester. We support people working in playwork at every level through the South West of England - from Lands End to Bournemouth and as far north as Gloucestershire. We are co-located with the South West branch of Play England and both teams work closely together.

The history of SkillsActive South West Play

Established in 1991 originally as a Centre, we are a resource for playworkers and as a result, have a work programme based on consultation with the field and regional need. The South West is a very rural region and much of our work over recent years has been spent building networks and designing training programmes and qualifications to respond to the challenges of being a playworker in an isolated rural setting. Much of this work has been very successful and has been highly applicable to urban settings and cities such as Bristol and Swindon. In the South West, we have a strong interest in promoting children’s play in the outdoors and this is reflected in additional projects we run within the region.

Our work

The SkillsActive South West work programme includes regional co-ordination and networking such as:

• support for training providers wishing to have playwork courses endorsed, plus Training Providers Annual meeting forum
• regional consultation events regarding national developments 
• communications: providing information, support, advice and resources relating to playwork education and training through events, newsletters, website, e-bulletins, and mail outs 
• organisation of an annual South West Play Celebration event 
• development work that supports the strategic aims of the UK Network for Playwork Education and Training 
• supporting the needs of Playwork Employers through a dedicated online forum and webpage, plus regular forum meetings.

South West Communications

SkillsActive Playwork South West supports organisations and individuals involved in playwork through a monthly e-zine, free seasonal newsletters (SWOP – the 16 page South West Opportunities for Play newsletter), information dissemination, plus regular E-Bulletins of national and regional news, events and training opportunities.

The South West Play Celebration

This is our largest annual event. It is a regional day event that attracts around 300 playworkers from across the South West. 2008 will see the Centre's 12th play celebration take place in Bournemouth & Poole. Watch this space for more details of this exciting event.

Endorsed Playwork Training

Several courses have been endorsed by the SkillsActive National Endorsement Panel. Further information about endorsed Playwork Training Courses is available here

Contact: swplay@skillsactive.com

• Regional Development Manager - Leonie Labistour/Claire Mills

• Playwork Partnerships
  University of Gloucestershire
  Oxstalls Campus
  Oxstalls Lane 
  Gloucester
  Gloucestershire
  GL2 9HW

• Tel: 01242 714 603