Community Playbus projects
The projects highlighted below are available throughout the year however a charge is payable. There are many additional projects available and they can be adapted to suit the group.
The community playbus was involved in Ready Steady Summer 2007 and undertook a number of projects around the borough.
A project was developed with young people from Walsall called 'Do try this at home' which was aimed to make science interesting and fun. The experiments captivated the minds of the young scientists on board and got them actively involved in a subject they had previously thought was boring. These budding scientists got the chance to make their very own meteor shower, lava lamp and egg-sucking vacuum to name just a few.
A Communities for Health Scheme was organised in Walsall for young people. The project called 'Have you got a light boy?' was all about making young people aware of the dangers of smoking. This included exactly just what goes into a cigarette, the physical damages smoking causes and the material costs. Unlike conventional anti-smoking campaigns, we didn't use big scary words which young people hear over and over again. We kept it plain and simple and introduced a novel way of learning. This compromised of jumbo cigarette jigsaws, quizzes about the chemicals and toxins in cigarette smoke, and a Pay the Price game show, highlighting the financial costs of smoking by using the infamous 'Jar of Tar'. This was a highly successful project where at least one young person stopped smoking.
An additional project which was very popular with young people was called 'Around the world in just a day'. Using their new passports the young people had the opportunity to learn about many countries that they knew very little about. Japan, Canada, France, New Zealand, and Egypt, to name a few, were all within walking distance for these young explorers. They even learnt a few more facts about England, which goes to show that because you live in a country does not mean you know everything about it. After impressing us in a quiz with their newly gained knowledge the young people tantalised their taste buds and expanded their pallet with traditional cuisine from each of the countries, and many went home with a taste of sushi, cous cous and even fresh pineapple, which they had never tasted.
Roadshows
The Community Playbus was involved in a number of road shows throughout 2007, these included:
- Family placements
- Trading standards
- Early years
- Town centre management
- Strategic regeneration
- Over 50’s forum
- Family learning day
- Age concern
Walking Bus
The establishment of the Walking bus alongside Edgar Stammers school was a roaring success during 2007.
Volunteers worked together to pick up children to walk them to school.
Contact us
Community Development Team
Walsall Council
1st floor, Challenge Building
Hatherton Street
Walsall
WS1 1YG
Telephone 01922 654721
Fax 01922 653373
Email communitydevelopment@walsall.gov.uk