Year started with Sovereign: 2014

When I first joined Sovereign as a playground consultant it was from a background of commercial finance. I probably understood more about funding and how hard that is, than actually creating playgrounds. Years on, with fantastic support and in-depth training from my colleagues and many hours spent listening to Heads and teachers about their children’s needs, I love my role of developing new play spaces to enable children to grow and learn in a fun way.

As a mum to three children, one of whom is a 10-year-old boy who doesn’t like football but lives for his playtime at school, I appreciate the need to build a play space that that encourages all children to engage in a wide range of physical activity and learn to develop their social relationships with their peers. Many a playtime fall out and make up again story have I listened to!

My personal love of fitness comes from HIIT classes at the gym, particularly explosive movements such as tuck jumps, and using equipment to improve my strength, mobility and balance. These are all really simple skills that can be built into a playground.