Member Article

Bosses Go Back To Childhood On National Playday

Business executives have gone back to their childhood as part of an event organised by social enterprise Groundwork NE & Cumbria.

Members of Darlington Business Club, including chair Graeme Rowatt and vice-chair Jayson Gurney, took part in the national Playday celebrations held at South Park in Darlington.

The Groundwork fun and games concentrated on traditional free and low cost ideas that easily could be repeated at home.

They included constructing a cardboard city, making a den, team building activities using wooden planks and milk crates, playing giant versions of Jenga, Connect 4 and noughts and crosses and turning nature detectives with bug hunting sessions.

Groundwork, which is celebrating its 30th anniversary, organises projects to boost people’s wellbeing, spearheads land and community improvement programmes, manages training and work placement schemes, and develops practical initiatives to tackle climate change and help businesses improve their environmental impact.

Kate Culverhouse, Groundwork Chief Executive, said: “One of Groundwork’s key focuses is helping promote activities that keep people both physical and mentally healthy.

“Outdoor play is vital to children’s development which is why Groundwork is keen to support national Playday and show families there are range of low cost activities they can set up at home that will stimulate their children both physically and mentally.

“We thought it would add an extra dimension to this year’s event and help highlight the importance of play to young people’s wellbeing by inviting members of the local business community to take part.”

Graeme Rowatt, of Burns Rowatt Photography, said: “It was really enjoyable to be given the chance to embrace my inner child and get stuck in to some really fun activities and games.

Jayson Gurney, of The Social Media Consultancy, said: “While it was all very entertaining and great fun, there was a serious underlying message and that is that it is essential that families and their children are encouraged to get involved in outdoor play activities.”

The Darlington Playday event attracted scores of families from across the town.A range of activities was held later in the day for members of Darlington Business Club, not able to attend the South Park event, at Piercebridge, near Darlington.

They experienced a variety of children’s pastimes including desktop den-building and sculpting figures from play dough.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Recognition PR Business Team .