Project Play: The fun, the funky, and the messy
On the seventh floor of the Royal London nestled in amongst the paediatric wards, there exists the Playspace, where four times a week a team of volunteers don their signature purple shirts and get together to put on a session of fun activities for the children and teenagers of the surrounding wards looking for a distraction from the unending boredom of a hospital bed.
This can take the shape of messy painting, flurries of glitter, and copious amounts of PVA glue in a classic session of arts and crafts, or something a bit calmer (though admittedly, not by much) like board games or origami. But in true Project Play fashion, every session manages to produce things you could scarcely imagine, from surprisingly complex pipe cleaner animals to the most heart-warming letters to parents and friends.
Each session is led by one of Project Play’s own heroic Lead volunteers, who meticulously organise each session and bring their own individual spark to the activities. But the most energy and positivity undoubtedly comes from the focus of our whole operation: the children themselves, as with gaptoothed grins stretched wide, they laugh, play, and create works of art. From watching them go about their artistic activities, however, you learn one of the most fundamental and sobering rules of Project Play: despite what you think, you are not better at arts and crafts than a 4-year-old.
This year, under the wonderful management of Presidents Eva and Angharad, Project Play has continued to flourish and is continually reaching new heights, helping more children than ever before with word of Project Play spreading even beyond paediatrics and reaching children in ever more far flung departments.
From my perspective, in this last year and a half Project Play has been one of the absolute highlights of my time at Barts, and every time I turn up to a session it always feels like an immense privilege to be a part of such an incredible organisation. Without fail, from the banter with the teammates to the playing and joking with the kids, every session of Project Play will always be the best part of any week.
