Purple Routes Play Project 2006 - 2019
Purple Routes promoted children’s play across Carmarthenshire, Pembrokeshire and beyond through play sessions, parties, events, training, resource hire and more.
‘Purple Routes’ play project promoted the child’s right to play. Purple Routes was the leading open access play service providing free open access play for children and young people across Pembrokeshire and Carmarthenshire.
The Play teams ran sessions throughout Carmarthenshire and Pembrokeshire.
These sessions were timetabled and varied throughout the year.
Our sessions included: Denbuilding, junk modelling, water slides, sports, art and craft, role play, circus skills and more. The resources were provided and the children chose how to play with them.
Project Story
In August 2006 Play Wales were given a contract to work strategically on the Child’s Play programme on behalf of the Big Lottery. Through this programme a total of £13m worth of grants were awarded for the whole of Wales.
Round 1 of the programme focussed on the development of the infrastructure needed to deliver play and looked at the strategic picture across Wales.
Round 2 awarded grants to regional play networks that directly offered opportunities for Play. The Child ’s Play programme focussed on new approaches to staffed play projects and expected projects to come up with creative play initiatives that offered challenging and varied opportunities.
Later in 2006, a group of people from Carmarthenshire and Pembrokeshire, comprising officers from the CVCs, Local Authorities and third sector organisations, came together to work out the best way of building an infrastructure bid to provide the area with a Play Association.
A Co-ordinator was employed to develop the future bid. This group went on to be successful in gaining 3 -year funding for Purple Routes, a Child’s Play project with CAVS as the lead organisation. Alongside the Co-ordinator, the Purple Routes team consisted of 2 Development Officers, (one covering Carmarthenshire, the other Pembrokeshire) a Resource Worker and Administration staff as well as 8 Play Workers (a team of 4 covering each county).
All the staff involved with the project have been amazing. They have worked with children and young people across Pembrokeshire and Carmarthenshire, offered Open Access play sessions after school and during school holidays, run sessions in schools at lunchtime and provided incredible sessions at Fun Days and at the Pembrokeshire Show, as well as training in aspects of Play such as Play in Nature.
CAVS have been involved with Play Sufficiency audits across both counties, and produced the first report for Pembrokeshire, which assisted them in securing funds for a Play Officer.
The end of the project
CAVS made the difficult decision to close Purple Routes in 2019 as it was not possible to secure further funding.
The end of the project means thousands of children across the two counties have been left with no access to Open Access play provision and are no longer able to connect with our dedicated team of staff.
We would like to thank all the children who used the provision and guided the work of the teams by choosing their play and all the parents for supporting us.
A massive thanks also goes to the staff who made this project such a success and our
partners PAVS and officers from both local authorities who wholeheartedly supported our work.
partners PAVS and officers from both local authorities who wholeheartedly supported our work.
