When you’re driving to Turf Moor, have you ever spotted Eastham Place on the left-hand side as you’re coming from town?
This unassuming street is home to ESP Play, a playground design manufacturer and installer with a difference.
In fact, it’s the UK’s leading provider of school playground equipment and was ahead of its time, when almost 20 years ago it went on a mission to promote the health, wellbeing and educational benefits of outdoor play.
Burnley.co.uk met with managing director Andrew Wood, who told us their impressive story.
“ESP Play started in 2003 and we were, and still are, passionate about connecting outdoor activities to the school curriculum. A school playground should be an extension of the classroom, and this was a relatively new concept 20 years ago. Studies have shown that mental and physical health massively improves for children, as well as boosting their communication, socialising and problem-solving skills,” Andrew told us.
It’s incredible that this concept flourished right here in Burnley, and it even saw Andrew travel across the USA to share the benefits.
“Children are more attentive in the classroom once they’ve had a proper break outside. Some years ago, we were awarded an NHS contract to help them deal with the issue of childhood obesity. The studies found that if we capture children at five years old and encourage them to take part in outdoor activities, they are more likely to take these good habits and attitude towards fitness into their adult life.”
The £5 million NHS childhood obesity programme asked ESP Play to prove that quality school playground equipment would not have a so-called novelty factor with the children and stand the test of time. Indeed, it was shown that this method of play was sustainable. Furthermore, coaches were connected to teachers in schools to align outdoors with the classroom and activities were non-sports specific to make it as inclusive and non-threatening as possible.
Flying the flag for Burnley
The findings of the study were so impressive that Andrew was invited to travel around the USA to discuss them in schools – and he was surprised by what he found.
“A lot of schools are built on large grounds, but they didn’t have playgrounds or outdoor breaktimes and PE wasn’t on the curriculum. We introduced ‘Brain Breaks’ so children could take a rest from learning and come back feeling refreshed. Thankfully, outdoor health and wellbeing is firmly on the agenda in schools in the UK and the increase in multi-academy trusts means there is more joint funding for schools to benefit from,” Andrew explained.
Burnley Bondholder ESP Play transformed the outdoor space for Heasandford Primary School and were due to have an official celebration with MP Anthony Higginbotham in October 2020, but sadly the pandemic meant the plans were cancelled. However, we’re sure the children thoroughly enjoy their new outdoor space, especially with plenty of fresh air being of even more importance during this current time. ESP Play told us they have seen an increase in demand over the past year and they are hopeful to progress into the playparks sector too.
It’s always great to find out more about the innovative businesses we have in our borough and a big thank you to ESP Play for sharing their story with us.