Playwork in a pandemic… Part 2!
I have heard things such as ‘it’s been like taking a social media degree in three months’ to people remembering and honouring loved and lost ones; some overcoming personal anxieties; others witnessing exactly how difficult it has been and will continue to be for some Sandwell.
From an early age, being active has been a big part of my life. From playing games in my local park with family and friends, to making a conscious effort as an adult, to regularly exercise. I’ve always valued how important physical activity can be.
It was a unique position to find myself in, when starting my role at Groundwork West Midlands in March 2020. 2 weeks into my new role, like so many others, I found myself remote working, due to the current pandemic. From experiencing play sessions face to face and meeting new families and children, to then, going into a national lockdown, it was a strange situation to be in. Naturally, my first thoughts were, how is the Go Play programme going to be able to support all these amazing families around Sandwell, now we can’t go out and deliver play sessions?
Throughout the pandemic, the Go Play partnership have had to change ways of working and think of different initiatives and ideas in order to try and support families we work with. As a result, I have found many positives from remote working. I think the work Go Play has done virtually, has developed and progressed significantly, and we have a brilliant platform to provide support.
For example, creating our own website (goplaysandwell.co.uk) with a vast amount of play
resources, to occupy families in their own time, has been a great tool for them to make use of. Additionally, delivering Zoom Go Play sessions for children and seeing the interaction and fun being had between children and families has been fantastic. Subsequently, I feel there are a lot of positives to take through such a difficult time, and the Go Play team will continue to
apply them when getting back to some sort of normality.
The thought of face to face delivery in the future really excites me, and I can’t wait to get out and deliver play sessions again. However, it’s satisfying to know the current work the Go Play partnership are doing is helping support families across Sandwell, and I’m proud to be a part of it.
#pandemic #proudtoplayinsandwell #playmatters #letthemplay
Sam Stokes
Play coordinator - Groundwork West Midlands
