The Portsmouth Skills Garden

Aim

Help us create the UK's first multi-skills movement hub in the heart of the city. Let's get active together!

WHO WE ARE

We (Martina and Chad) are both lecturers in the School of Sport, Health and Exercise Science at the University of Portsmouth who have a passion for promoting health and wellbeing through movement. In our roles, we talk a lot about physical inactivity and how we might support people to move more. Unfortunately, there are no easy answers to this, but what is clear is that the status quo isn't working.

WHAT WE WANT TO DO

Ongoing inflation concerns and increased cost of living mean working families have even less disposable income to invest in recreational activity. No where is this more concerning than among those who were already living near or below the poverty threshold. We want to build the UK's first PLAYCE, a free and open multi-skills activity space built using a pioneering scientific model for movement which will provide state of the art movement opportunities for residents of an area of particular deprivation in Portsmouth.

The purpose of the outdoor activity space is to get people moving by challenging them to think outside the box when it comes to physical activity.

It is designed in such a way to invite everyone to use the space, from young and old and all skill levels, including those living with disabilities and additional needs. Uniquely, there are also no separate play areas for different groups, but an integrated PLAYCE for all.

Above: The build site at Lords Court, Landport, Portsmouth (left image) and an example of a fully featured Skills Garden in the Netherlands (right image). 

Please consider helping us achieve our vision: to create a community movement culture in Portsmouth. Landport's recreational infrastructure is in need of a refresh and your support would help us build something amazing!

WHAT WE'RE LOOKING FOR

We are asking for your support to enable us to put some of our ideas into practice by offering residents of Landport (Portsmouth) a fresh and innovative approach to movement through building a Skills Garden (a.k.a. PLAYCE). We received some funding from the University of Portsmouth and South Western Railway to build a 'standard' Skills Garden (the first in the UK), but with your support, we can expand upon our offering to ensure a wide variety of movements and physical activities are possible - to support the development and maintenance of fundamental movement skills.

For example, if we received an additional £20,000.00 or more, we could expand the project and turn the initial PLAYCE design into a full-featured Skills Garden as follows:

• £20,000 would build an additional area of 10m x 10m.
• £15,000 allows for the installation of additional equipment such as hoops, trampolines, adjustable callisthenic bars like monkey bars, large stones for sitting/jumping, etc.
• £30,000 would build a Powerhill 

Please note that we are consulting with members of the community on all aspects of the build and they have approved our idea to rejuvenate the space. Please check out our initial design and some examples of what it could look like below:

Above: Initial design adopting the ASM design principles.

Above: Examples of how the new space could look and/or equipment to be added. The court (top-left image), the playground (bottom-left image), the track (top-right) and PowerHill (bottom-right).

HOW YOU CAN HELP

You can help by donating any amount you can spare (minimum is £1). Check our rewards as well, we have a wide variety of good cost-benefit rewards depending on how much you donate.

If you are a local business, you can also donate vouchers for services or products. Get in touch with us if that's the case.

Finally, if you are a charity or group that wants to use the space when is open, get in touch with us. The space is free of charge, but we can help you connect with the local community and offer a wide range of activities on the site.

WHY MOVEMENT VARIATION?

We believe that movement quality (how well you move) is as important as movement quantity (how much you move). Movement quality can be achieved by movement variation - performing different movements that are important for holistic development. These movements are known as the Fundamental10 (check the figure below), and in our proposed space users will be able to perform these movements in many different ways.

Please check out our recent press release below that provides more detail about some of the key foundations of the Athletic Skills Model, our collaborators and the buzz we're starting to create.

UK's first PLAYCE to be built in Portsmouth to encourage people to get moving

Above: An example of a 'PLAYCE' in the Netherlands.

Portsmouth has been chosen to host the UK's first PLAYCE, a multi-skills activity space built using a pioneering scientific model for movement.

The purpose of the outdoor playground is to get people moving by challenging them to think outside the box when it comes to physical activity.

It is designed in a way that anyone can use the space, from young and old and all skill levels, including those with disabilities and additional needs. Uniquely, there are also no separate play areas for different groups, but an integrated PLAYCE for all.

The project is a collaboration between the University of Portsmouth, Portsmouth City Council (PCC), the Athletic Skills Model (ASM) Company and the South Western Railway Customer and Communities Improvement Fund (CCIF). 

The PLAYCE will be somewhere residents can get together, to not only be physically active, but engage in play and games. The most novel part of it is that the space is designed with the community in mind. The overall aim is to encourage a more fun, active lifestyle for people in the surrounding area.

Schools, sports clubs, health centres, sports coaches and informal carers will also be able to use it to carry out their training or exercise programmes. 

Cllr Darren Sanders, Cabinet Member for Housing and Preventing Homelessness, said: Having the UK's first PLAYCE is incredibly exciting. It is a great chance to improve play for hundreds of homes and builds on our excellent adventure playground nearby, one of six in the city, and the great work done in Arundel Court School.

"Local people deserve to have more control over the area around them. I am delighted the University agrees and will involve local people in informing any design. I am also delighted the council is funding the training of local people to help everyone use this site to its fullest potential."

The council is already spending money to improve the rest of the Courts estate and I am delighted that this play space will now get the investment it deserves. It will be great to see how this project progresses."

Above: The build site at Lords Court, Landport, Portsmouth.

The space will be designed in accordance with the principles of the Athletic Skills Model (ASM), a practical and scientifically based talent development model for sport, physical education, health care and art and culture.

Science is involved in the layout, so that basic forms of movement, including balancing, climbing, throwing, frolicking, jumping, etc., can be done. These are known as the ASM's Fundamental 10!

Rene Wormhoudt, High-Performance Coach of the Dutch Men's National Football team, is the CEO and co-founder of ASM.

He explained where the idea for the ASM model came from: "I saw that they were good footballers, but not athletes. As if they could play a beautiful piece on the piano, but they were not musicians."

"Focusing on just one sport or specialism only increases the risk of injuries, overloading and loss of strength. It can also lead athletes and novices to lose interest in what they are doing. For a healthy and high-quality development, it's important to have variety in sport and exercise."

"This results in better performance, fewer injuries, increased creativity and more fun!"

The Portsmouth PLAYCE is being funded by the University of Portsmouth. The money will be spent on community consultations and engagement, and the design and construction of a 'standard' movement space.

Additional funding from the council's public health team will go towards training a number of local community representatives and exercise professionals in ASM so they can optimise the use of the site, plus greening the area surrounding the site.

Above: An example of a fully featured Skills Garden in the Netherlands.

This project successfully funded on 15th December 2023