WHAT IS INTERPLAY?

Remember as a child how you played in your community with your friends, whether it was in the local park or street or playscheme - you needed your friends. Children need other children to play with, to laugh, giggle kick a ball, explore - it is the same for ALL children! Disabled children are still children but can you remember seeing children with a disability out playing when you grew up - think about it, I bet not many of you do. Play is a vital part of growing up - the people around us become our view of society, our view of the world.

Interplay is a project aiming to provide and support integrated play and leisure opportunities for young people between the ages of 2 - 19 who have special needs, within the area of the City and County of Swansea and the Borough Council of Neath Port Talbot.

Aims and objects of the Organisation:

• To provide a variety of integrated out of school leisure activities.
• Development work to identify needs and establish new projects.
• To provide training and advice on disability awareness for other organisations and workers.
• Promoting and facilitating integration within existing leisure amenities.

Interplay is a registered charity based in Swansea, South Wales, UK serving both the City  and  County of Swansea and the County Borough of Neath Port Talbot. Our work is with young people aged between 2 and 19 who have special needs. Interplay provides trained and experienced workers to support the process leading to inclusion of any young person referred. Referrals come to us from the statutory officers of Social and Education Services, through voluntary organisations and directly from parents, carers and the young people themselves. Many of the young people who use our service have learning disabilities, others have physical impairments, sensory impairments and challenging behaviour. The main criteria is that without additional support, either short or long term, they would not be able to gain access to the play and leisure opportunities they wish to become involved in.

Interplay not only provides a service for children with special needs, it also aims to break down stereotypes and outdated attitudes and helps to develop the value system of the whole community. This occurs in a number of ways: firstly by the direct exposure of local community projects to processes of inclusion and secondly by training of volunteers, Interplay workers and other sessional and full time play and leisure workers on aspects of disability equality.

For over twenty years, Interplay has provided:

• Easter playschemes - a small number of places across the counties are supported in existing Easter play provision for the 8 - 12 age group.
• Summer playschemes - Our main aim is to provide at least two weeks supported play for around 100 young people in local playschemes for 5 - 12 year olds.
• Easter Activity Days - a successfully piloted leisure scheme for limited numbers of 12 - 19 year olds for a week at Easter.
• Summer Activity Days - a  project developed for the different needs of teenagers during the long summer break.
• Joiners project - an initiative that provided a chance for individuals with special needs to be supported in joining a year round club, group or activity of their choice - currently not active.
• Youth Club Project - support for teenagers to take part in their local Youth Clubs.
• Residentials - Days away with an overnight stay, usually in Margam Park, Llanmadoc or Stackpole.
• Activity Days - regular weekends and half term initiatives with try-out days involving a vast range of leisure activities.
• Circus Eruption - No longer a part of Interplay, this Swansea based inclusive young people's performing arts project was initiated and developed by Interplay and supported to its present independent status.
• Disco Project - supporting 13+ age group to access the Police run "Blue Light" discos - currently not active.
• Environmental Choosedays - integrated groups 13 - 19 year olds working to help the environment - currently not active.
• Special events - Pirate parties, Street Parties, Lantern Parades, Seasonal Parties etc.
• Performing Arts - a weekly arts group initiated and developed by Interplay in Neath Port Talbot and now an independent organisation called Rising Stars
  

Interplay has been working in the Swansea and Neath Port Talbot areas for over 20 years. It is a registered charitable company with its own board of trustees and is linked into the voluntary and statutory sector through affiliation to the local council for voluntary services and various local networks such as The Children's Partnership.