Wishing you a Happy Christmas & New Year...

Here's What Happened in September & October ...

Here's What Happened in August ...

Newsletter July 2012

Lambeth Council utilise our Bespoke Services yet again!

Lambeth Borough look after 33 children's play areas and six paddling pools throughout the borough.

Lambeth Council have called upon our bespoke services once again, Streatham Hill is the latest playground that has received a much needed facelift, we fitted a range of wire rope nets which will provide the children and young people years of enjoyment.

We pride ourselves on being able to make anything from rope or net, if you provide us with a sketch, then we would be happy to turn your sketch into reality!  Contact us: info@southwestplay.co.uk for further information.

Play England calls for community action to help children missing out on outdoor play

More local support to help children play outside is being called for by Play England, part of leading children’s charity the National Children’s Bureau, as a growing body of research shows that children today do not have the same opportunities to play outside as their parents did, and are missing out on everyday childhood experiences.
The research shows that:

• Just 21% of children play outdoors every day near home, compared to 71% of their parents when they were a child; ¹
• 7 out of 10 parents feel that taking their children to an outside space to play is a real treat and children feel the same, with a reported 59 per cent wishing they could play outside in natural places more and; ²
• one third of today’s children say they have never built a den, 32 per cent say they have never climbed a tree and one in ten children have never ridden a bike.²

The Government has awarded £2 million through a Big Society Fund to the Play England Free Time Consortium, a group of 17 local and specialist organisations working together to increase children and young people’s opportunities for play and recreation. The money will enable the consortium to drive community involvement so that they can help make their neighbourhoods places where children can play outside more often.

Catherine Prisk, Director of Play England, said: ’Playing outside, chalking on the pavement, climbing trees and riding your bike are simple pleasures that many of today’s children are missing out on. Play is essential for children’s health and happiness now, and is also essential for making friends, building key skills for the future and for feeling you are part of a community. The Love Outdoor Play Campaign – backed up by real opportunities offered by local organisations across the country – will make it easy for everyone to get involved in making England a place where children once more have the freedom to play outside every day after school and in the holidays.’

Minister for Civil Society Nick Hurd said: ’I think we all know the importance of play to children. Over the past ten years a culture of red tape has stifled the freedom of children to climb trees, make dens and enjoy the simple pleasure of outdoor play. That is why we have awarded £2 million to Play England so that they can get more people involved in creating invaluable opportunities for children to play outside – this is all part of our drive to create a bigger stronger society where people are empowered to make a difference to their community.’

The consortium brings together local voluntary sector groups from across England who will offer a range of volunteering opportunities that include street parties, holiday play schemes, helping out on adventure playgrounds, or becoming a trustee. It is expected to create over create over 20,000 new volunteering opportunities. There will also be one off opportunities to help build new play spaces – such as making rope swings or digging paddling pools – and for professionals to help their local play organisation with their website or their business plans. In addition there will be special programmes for young people to volunteer in their own communities, and further afield.

Volunteering has always been at the heart of play services across the country providing invaluable benefits for local communities, children and the volunteers themselves. At Shiremoor Adventure Playground in North Tyneside Justine, a parent who regularly takes her five-year-old to the playground, started volunteering 16 months ago. Inspired by the staff and the amazing work they do with the children and young people, she discovered a grant that could help them plug gaps in funds. Justine applied for the grant, and last October, the playground received £4,400 from the Big Lottery Fund to run weekly youth sessions. She now volunteers at the playground five days a week and last year started an NVQ level 2 in Playwork.

Justine said: ‘Volunteering has increased my confidence and given me perspective on what I want to do with my life. If someone had said to me a year ago I’d be doing this I’d have said no way - I’d never have thought I’d go back to college. Kids can always turn everything into a positive, they have me on a high all the time – I love it!
She continued: ‘Whatever your skills, whatever time you have to spare, there is a way that you can help your neighbourhood become a place where children have more freedom to play outside. ‘

The public is being asked to take the first step, by logging onto www.LoveOutdoorPlay.net to find out how they can get involved. Through the blog, email, Facebook and Twitter supporters will be kept up to date with opportunities across the country – and they are also invited to share how their support is helping more children have the freedom to play outside a bit more every day.

The Sustainability Show 2012 - Thanks to Love - Local

SUSTAINABILITY SHOW 2012, QUEEN CONFERENCE CENTRE, TAUNTON

17th June 2012

Over 100 likeminded people exhibited at this year's show with special guest Michael Eavis and patron Hugh Fearnly Whittingstall in attendance

The Sustainability Show is the first event in the West Country dedicated to exhibiting the many ways in which every individual, family and organisation can contribute to making our lives greener. Over 100 exhibitors will be on the playing fields behind Queen’s College. Don’t expect it to be all green and serious though. As well as dozens of foods stalls (organic naturally) there will be cider and ale bars plus live music. All this and much, much more at the Sustainability Show 2012

Love-Local displayed one our bestsellers our ECO Basket Swing, the feedback we've had back from LIz & Ali is that it's a firm favourite with children and adults alike, generating a lot of interest for people who want a eco friendly way to chill out in their gardens.  Thank you to Love Local for exhibiting on behalf of South West Play!

Notre Dame Play Area

Drew's been hard at work installing the bespoke nets, designed by Erect Architecture - he's worked through the adverse weather conditions and his hard effort has clearly paid off. We bet the children of Worsopp Drive cannot wait to get playing. It has been shown that natural play helps children to build a repertoire of responses to the things they encounter in their lives as children.  A new funding initiative was designed to create a number of new natural play areas, in some of the most economically deprived areas of the capital.

Exciting Projects...

We've got some really exciting projects in the pipeline... some refubishment work in the very fantastic indoor adventure play area 'Raze The Roof ' on our doorstep here in Cornwall and some animal enclosures to make all the way up in 'Alladale Nature Reserve' in the Highlands this will be the second project collaborating with Zoo-Lutions!

Busy, Busy, Busy...

Drew is currently in London, our collaborations with leading architects Erect and Hortech has kept our rope technicians busy for several weeks and now it's Drew's turn...

His schedule this week alone will see him on site installing our wire reinforced rope and net components on several sites across London; Notre Dame Estate Play Area, moving onto Streatham Hill Play Area and finally finishing in The Princess Diana Memorial Adventure Play Park at Kensington Gardens, in keeping with the recent Royal theme, a joint project with Timberplay.

The architects designs which afford various types of play in and around the structures are looking amazing and we'll post photos as soon as possible - watch this space!

Whilst Drew is away the office and store remains extremely busy...we've started selling our product's on www.love-local.com where our products will be displayed at the forthcoming RHS Hampton Court Flower and Taunton Sustainability Show (more details to follow).



The Princess Diana Memorial Adventure Play Area, Kensington Gardens.  The Royal Parks, London

Finally, we wish to welcome our new sales consultant Tim, who has joined us to promote and sell products and services.  He will be liaising with customers past, present and future over the coming months and he will strive to meet and exceed your expectations.

Jubilastic June...

South West Play: Commandeer Pirate Ship!

South West Play: Commandeer Pirate Ship!

South West Play, the bespoke manufacturer of rope and net play equipment, has collaborated with Cornwall’s Crealy to salvage a small fleet of redundant fishing boats that had fallen into disrepair and has turned them into an exciting new attraction at the Adventure Park, called Buccaneer Battles.

With the help and expertise of Patch Harvey, Coxswain of the Penlee Lifeboat and the permission of the Harbourmaster, South West Play refloated the unseaworthy 24ft Tosher, which had lain redundant in Newlyn Harbour for several years. Drew Davies, the Managing Director of South West Play, and Patch Harvey towed the vessel across the harbour to Canners Slip, where it was removed from the water.

Along with the other boats, the Tosher was restored and re-sited in soft play sand, to form the centrepiece of the pirate-themed play area, Buccaneer Battles, which has been designed to stimulate and encourage learning and creativity while being environmentally friendly.

The boats have been equipped with many play accessories such as climbing nets and slides, plus  authentic features such as wheelhouses with ships’ wheels, port holes, rope ladders, bridges, gangplank and, of course, the Jolly Roger. Air cannons have been fitted so junior pirates can fire foam balls at each other for a proper swashbuckling adventure.

Buccaneer Battles is the latest attraction at Crealy Great Adventure Park in Wadebridge, one of the best outdoor family attractions in Cornwall with a massive choice of activities. A generous donation of £300 to show their appreciation for the boats has been made by Crealy to the RNLI Penlee Lifeboat Fund, to help ensure that the 24-hour lifesaving services for those in danger on the water continue from the station at Newlyn.

“We were delighted to work with SouthWest Play and the RNLI to salvage these wonderful old vessels,” said Simon Townsend, General Manager of Cornwall’s Crealy. “South West Play’s ethos of using sustainable resources while improving the local area fits in with our vision and we are thrilled with the end result, as Buccaneer Battles is already proving very popular with our guests.”

Drew Davies of South West Play, the specialist manufacturers of imaginative, stimulating and challenging rope and net play equipment that allow today’s endless imaginations to run wild, can be contacted on 01736 360254 or info@southwestplay.co.uk. For details and photographs of the restoration process, visit www.southwestplay.co.uk

'Wreckreation'

News....

Now Accepting Barclays Pingit

How does Barclays Pingit work?

• Your customers download an app to their phone and send you payments quickly and simply using your mobile number
• Payments are secure, sent in seconds and shown on your bank statement if you are a Barclays customer. Business customers on certain tariffs will be charged for transactions
• Barclays business customers who are the sole signatories on their current account can receive and send payments by downloading the Barclays Pingit app to their smartphone
• If you don't have a smartphone, or if you have a business current account with more than one signatory or you don't bank with Barclays you can still register onlineto receive payments
• Users can make payments of up to £300 a day. You can receive Barclays Pingit payments of up to £5,000 a day
• When you receive money through Barclays Pingit, the full name you provide when registering for the service will be made visible to the person who sent you the money
• All users of Barclays Pingit need a UK registered mobile number and be aged 16 or above.Terms and conditions apply
• Visit Barclays Pingit help for our frequently asked questions and demo videos

March Madness...

March Madness…

What a fantastic month!  We’ve been so busy here at HQ the store really has been a nonstop hive of activity.

Our stock levels became so depleted that we sold out of our clearance items along with numerous stock items, but our focused manufacturing team rose to the challenge working tirelessly to keep up with the unparalleled demand.

We’ve generated an unprecedented level of orders with our large ECO Basket Swing becoming our new best seller.

Our web shop has become a firm favourite with shoppers plus we’ve welcomed a host of customers such as visitor attractions, touring parks, campsites and pubs getting their gardens and play areas ready for the longed for summer months.

There will be no time to rest on our laurels - the month on April will see us complete large manufacturing orders for the likes of Western Log Leisure, Excel Adventure, Just Outdoor Toys and Squirrel Design to name but a few!

The Easter Holiday will see the grand opening extravaganzas for some of the exciting projects that we have been working on since the beginning of the year, so watch this space for further information and pictures!

Through continued growth and a successful, high quality, evolving product range; the month of April with also see us strengthen our team by appointing a new net technician.

Where innovation meets inspiration...

South West Play will showcase what we have to offer the leisure industry, we will be exhibiting at this year’s leisure industry week, the UK's largest event that covers all sectors of the out of home leisure industry, a platform to showcase new products and ideas and conduct business face to face to the entire industry.
From 18-20 September 2012, LIW will open its doors to over 9000 senior decision makers seeking to discover new ideas, products and services, keep up-to-date with industry trends, network with peers and hear from our expert keynote speakers.

If you are involved with the leisure industry you simply cannot afford to miss LIW 2012. More details on what's new for 2012 coming soon...

Job Vacancy through continued growth!

SWP Newsletter March 2012

Transform Your Patch!

South West Play official suppliers to The Eden Project

 The Eden Projects’ commitment to local and sustainable sourcing is at the heart of how they approach their procurement.

Their policies are straightforward: everything they do must be economically viable, socially acceptable and environmentally sound. They expect the same of their suppliers and their supply chains. The criteria is what you would naturally expect Eden to be striving to achieve.

 ‘We are thrilled to become official suppliers to such an important world renowned attraction here on our doorstep in Cornwall’

The Eden Project strive to use Cornish products as a first choice and Cornish suppliers as a second.

What is sold at Eden embodies what they stand for – real-life examples of better products that meet demanding environmental standards and which may be sourced on their own doorstep.

Sustainable Living

The Eden project care about how things are made and always source responsibly, so you can enjoy shopping knowing you're making a difference. Everything they sell has a story to tell and we hope you enjoy discovering the different stories and ideas behind everything we stock…..visit http://www.edenproject.com/shop/default.aspx to start shopping!

Cornish Fisherman seeked new life line…..

Fishing has always been a principle occupation for the people of Newlyn and like many others the decline of the industry pushed Drew Davies to come ashore.  He didn’t rest on his laurels he diversified and employed a team of ex-fisherman to excel within the ever growing playground manufacturing industry. 

In 2008, South West Play was born.

The craftsmen at South West Play use their skills and unrivalled knowledge passed from generation to generation to splice, knot and whip - handcrafting a range of imaginative, challenging and stimulating play equipment.  Not forgetting our roots and keeping elements of rigging and seamanship from maritime history alive, our work has now reached a global audience.

South West Play collaborated with and supplied a range of climbing, swinging and fall prevention products to the Eden Project who in turn worked with communities across Cornwall to delve into the issues and inspire new ideas for nature-based and free play. The physical results can be seen at Eden Project, in communities and in the lives of countless children and adults across Cornwall.

South West Play aim to source and manufacture products according to the most environmentally friendly and ethically responsible ways available; we strive to be economically viable, socially acceptable and environmentally sound.

Outdoor Toys

Fresh air and exercise and lots of healthy fun are guaranteed with our kids outdoor toys - you may want to join in too ! View the range of outdoor toys by following this link http://www.edenproject.com/shop/kids-outdoor-toys.aspx

Attended by over 150 Farm Attraction Delegates

Leisure Industry Week (LIW) 18-20 September 2012

South West Play will be exhibiting at this

LIW 2012 show!

Leisure Industry Week (LIW) is the UK's largest event that covers all sectors of the out of home leisure industry.  They provide a platform for exhibitors to showcase new products and ideas and conduct business face to face to the entire industry.

From 18-20 September 2012, LIW will open it's doors to over 9000 senior decision makers seeking to discover new ideas, products and services, keep up-to-date with industry trends, network with peers and hear from expert keynote speakers.

If you are involved with the leisure industry you simply cannot afford to miss LIW 2012.  More details on what's new for 2012 coming soon...

Click on the links below to view the LIW sectors:

·         Health & Fitness

·         Pool & Spa

·         Eat & Drink

·         Play & Attractions

·         Leisure Facilities

Play & Attractions caters for the world of family entertainment and visitor attractions.  If you operate within this sector you can expect to find everything you need to improve your business at LIW 2012.

Play & Attractions offers solutions for a whole host of businesses including:

Indoor and outdoor play centres · museums · historic sites · theme parks · bowling alleys · farm parks ·laser tag · paintball sites · holiday parks · arcades · local authority attractions · visitor and education centres

 Play & Attractions is proud to offer:

A face-to-face environment to allow you to get down to business saving you time and moneyA diverse range of exhibitors showcasing the lastest innovative products and ideas FREE extensive seminar programmes to keep you up to date with industry trends Live demonstrations which allow you to touch, taste, feel and experience products and services

New Customers Welcomed to South West Play

2012 has been keeping us exceptionally busy; we’ve welcomed new customers Monster Play Systems, Red Monkey Play, Davidson Leisure Resorts Ltd and Jess Milne Services so we’re really thrilled to be supplying more leading companies!

We’ve completed a pioneering project alongside eibeplay Ltd at Colchester Zoo and we’re equally busy working on new attractions at Crealy Great Adventure Parks in Cornwall and Devon.

Drew & Emma are attending the NFAN Annual Conference and hope to meet faces old and new! 2012 is tipped to be the best yet! Full story next coming soon!