The Torfaen Play Service Volunteer Awards were held at Congress Theatre in Cwmbran last week. The awards celebrate those who give up their time to help run our Play Service here in Torfaen.

Thanks to Julian, Andrea, their staff and volunteers, our Play Service provides hundreds of projects year-round, seven days a week, to help children and young people.

There are term-time provisions across Torfaen, but the highlight of the year is always the summer holiday playschemes. Last summer, 175 volunteers helped provide 10,000 children, young people and their families with play provision. Between them they gave up 28,326 hours of their time to help others.

The provisions provide a welcoming, friendly, inclusive environment, with disabilities and additional needs provided for.

Children get to play, get provided with food and parents and carers can have a bit of time to themselves.

But what inspires me most is seeing young people having fun, looking after each other and gaining so much from the experience.

I’ve spoken to Play Service volunteers who’ve gone on into teaching, social care, nursing, business, sport, the arts and more. All of them point to playschemes as places where they gained confidence, learned new skills, and made friends.

Seventy-eight volunteers gained accredited qualifications last year, in play work, first aid and mental health first aid.

So as well as giving back to their communities and enabling children to enjoy their summers, they added useful points to their CVs.

If anyone you know would make a good play service worker or volunteer, email torfaenplay@torfaen.gov.uk for more information. The 2024 Summer Playschemes run from July 22 to August 23, including a training week.

It was good to be joined at the Awards by our Community Councils, who work with us to provide the playschemes, and by Torfaen Voluntary Alliance. Hosts Max and Ben entertained a crowd of volunteers and their families as we celebrated the service’s achievements.

At this time of year as we set our budget, it’s services like Torfaen Play that are at the forefront of my mind. Not every area enjoys a play service like Torfaen’s. Indeed, councils across the border have been forced to cut so many community services as they look to balance their budgets, with less money from central Government year after year. But I’m keen to protect services like this, as they add so much to our communities.

There’s evidence elsewhere that preventative services like this being cut proves to be a false economy in the long-run. They inspire young people, provide for families of children with disabilities or additional needs and make our communities nicer places to live in. So to everyone who plays a part in our Torfaen Play, thank you.