Highly Sprung are serious about Play.
That’s why on Saturday 18th February we hosted one of the UK’s first Play Days in our community of Radford, Coventry.

Highly Sprung’s Play day provided a day full of fun, providing a safe and positive space for families from the local community to come and play together. 100% of people said they would recommend Highly Sprung’s Play Day to others and 100% of people said they would come again.

“I think this event was fantastic, where the children learn through play. It’s lovely that it is free and a safe space for children to play and learn.” -Play Day Attendee

Adults, teenagers, and children were all invited to take part in play. Participating in Highly Sprung’s signature games encouraging teamwork and creativity, sharing food from around the world, working together in playful challenges like den building, benefiting from a book and board game exchange and so much more all for free and all accessible to our local community.

Activities included:
Team games
Den Building
Walkabout characters- the Honeyz
Baby and Toddler activities
Storytelling sessions
Book and board game exchange
Food demonstrations
Music workshops
Construction activities- Lego of all sizes and Imagineer’s Build a Future workshop

Activities were supported by stalls hosting a range of different things to do, as a way of introducing local services to the community. Clothing Coventry, CW Mind and Grapevine all hosted day long activities to signpost Play Day participants to free services which could be of benefit to them.

“There was something for everyone. Engaging and practical activities for the children to get involved in. They especially enjoyed the Lego and junk model making areas... Spent an hour cutting and sticking! Enthusiastic staff and volunteers who inspired and supported the children's creativity.” -Play Day Attendee

We are very excited to announce our Play Day will be happening on February 18th!

Highly Sprung Performance uses physical theatre to create work that inspires participants and audiences and encourages change. We make original physical performance work that is dynamic, exciting, and bold, with a focus on children and young people.

Playfulness is one of our principle values and we agree everyone deserves to play! We know that play is a vital part of the human experience, play grows relationships and builds communities.

Highly Sprung will work with local people, especially young people, and partners to plan and deliver a Community Play Day at our company base Daimler Powerhouse in Radford Coventry. Using our arts and events management experience to bring play, fun, activity, health, and energy to our community in Radford.

Our aims for the Radford Community Play Day are to:
Promote community cohesion
Building Stronger Communities
Tackle loneliness and isolation
Provide support for newly arrived families to make local connections

The main outcomes for the project are based on issues that exist in the community of Radford that would benefit from and be positively impacted by the benefits of a Play Day.

The Play Day will build connections across the community partnering three local schools and directed by a steering group of young people, helping the local area to regain a sense of community. The Play Day aims to bring magic to our community, providing a day of arts and cultural activity designed to engage families from the local communities, inviting them to laugh, smile and dream with us through the power of play.

Taking place in early 2023, the Play Day will at first connect a planning committee with representatives from the local community- Barrs Hill School, Radford primary and St Osburgs, and leaders from Highly Sprung’s Youth Advisory Board. This team will design and produce a day of activities in new arts space Daimler Powerhouse, which will open for a day of play for local families.

We are confident this new project will improve community connectedness and bring joy to local people.

Promotion of the event will happen through low level publicity, word of mouth, social media, school engagement and joint promotional activity with partners, designed to:
• Appeal to families in the local area who are less culturally engaged.
• Deliver activity which overcomes typical barriers to participation- economic, racial, and geographic.
• Deliver participation activities that meet the needs of our audience and provides valued cultural experiences.

To ensure that the community is at the core of the project, we have undertaken an initial analysis of the local area using the Audience Spectrum and held discussions with partners and potential partners about current reach. We know that people in this community are typically more likely to engage in activity that is free, hyper local and involves elements of engagement and participation opportunities, this is reflected in both the project design and delivery.

The Radford Community Play Day is an activity for families and will include engagement with children and young people. Therefore, it is essential that the practices outlined in Highly Sprung’s Safeguarding policy are followed. Our policy is supported by activity that includes safeguarding training and DBS checks for all employees, freelancers and volunteers who engage with Highly Sprung activities.

All activity will take into consideration current guidelines in relation to COVID-19, and will be adaptable to allow for changes, which might include social distancing. Highly Sprung continued delivering activity throughout the pandemic and have a range of delivery modes that include virtual activity and socially distanced practices. We feel confident we can plan our event to allow for the type of flexibility and responsiveness needed at this time.

Budget:

£300 Staff Time- Steering group meetings 6x 2staff @£50/meeting
£450 Steering group meeting costs- room hire and refreshments 6x £75
£1000 Equipment and resources for Play Day
£750 Specialist Activities Budget (inflatables, face painting, DJ)
£200 Leaflets for Play Day x500
£500 Refreshments for Play Day
£500 Space Hire for Play Day
£1200 Staff costs for Play Day x6 @£200/day
£100 Evaluation Activity

£5000 Total