Play 2 Nurture Project 2022-2024

A play boost for children experiencing emotional and/or economic hardships who live or go to school within a one-mile radius of The Play Sanctuary, Alfred Street, Gloucester GL1 4DF

Play Gloucestershire’s Play2Nurture project was funded for three years from January 2022 to December 2024. The project has been awarded £240,119 from The National Lottery Community Fund.

The overall aim of the project was to use the therapeutic power of play to create the conditions where children facing adversity build resilience and have better chances in life.

The project sought to develop Play Gloucestershire’s emerging play nurture approach, which builds on 15 years’ experience of running a universal Play Ranger service in disadvantaged local communities and targeted work in school settings. The play nurture approach works with small groups of identified children using the therapeutic power of play to offer respite from and to help children cope with the ups and downs of daily economic and emotional hardships. In this, the Play Rangers work at the intersection of playwork and play therapy.

The project worked across three Gloucester locations:

The Play Sanctuary
(our small, dedicated play space at City Works)

Ayland Garden Open Space
(open access community sessions in a local park)

Oxstalls Campus, University of Gloucestershire
(a beautiful natural space for playing during school holidays)