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Nancy Ovens Awards 2009

Thanks to the generosity of the community of Aberfeldy and Perth & Kinross Council, the 2009 Awards were held on the 5th September. The Minister for Children and Early Years , Adam Ingram MSP presented the Awards and was tremendously encouraging in his speech about play and its impact for good on children and families. Amongst the highlights was an Award to Stirling Council for its leading work in providing distinctive play experiences. There was also a Lifetime Award to Jane Hook MBE for her work at Buddies in Glasgow. Full details of the 2009 awards

Nancy Ovens

Nancy Ovens MBE made a very distinctive contribution to many individuals and organisations working with children and young people across Scotland, the UK and Europe. A former teacher, Nancy worked within the voluntary sector supporting the development of youth and children´s work prior to becoming a lecturer at Moray House School of Community Studies. Through her devotion to improving the provision for children, she became convinced that the loss of play opportunities was significantly damaging children´s physical, emotional and creative development. She set up the National Centre for Play under the auspices of Moray House and sought to address the need to improve the status and provision of children´s play.

"I never cease to be surprised by the ability of children and young people to tell you what they think will make a difference to them and their community. All of us involved in providing them with services should always involve them and recognise their awareness and expertise".
Nancy Ovens MBE

Previous Winner
"Ormlie Community Association was extremely proud to receive the Nancy Ovens Award for Play in 2005 and the award gave the children and young people from the Ormlie Community Partners Programme (CPP) the impetus and confidence to identify another derelict area on the estate which needed improving. As a result the Macaulay View site was chosen by the young people to be developed into an attractive public space where parents could take their young children to play. Members of the Ormlie CPP undertook a series of fundraising initiatives and played an active part in the planning of the site. One young lad suggested that a large wooden whale could be placed in the middle of the garden/play area which would allow small children to crawl in the mouth and come out at the tail. OCA took this idea on board and managed to find a local wood sculptor who made a very large sea monster which has pride of place within the site. This latest development would not have taken place without the input from children and young people. The Nancy Ovens Award gave us the confidence to tackle other sites and we now have a positive track record in project development.

Our large playarea in Provost Cormack Road is used by many children and young people from outwith the Ormlie estate and this has had such a positive effect on the community by strengthening the relationship between Ormlie and other areas of Thurso. The playarea is a flagship for Ormlie Community Association and has given other communities in Caithness the confidence to tackle similar projects in their own area eg the Wick Playarea Committee developed a new playarea in the Bignold Park, Wick, following the success of the Ormlie project. As an organisation we are able to offer support and advice to organisations involved in community development work. All very positive!"

Nancy Ovens Trustees would like to thank the following organisations for their help with the awards

Skills Active www.skillsactive.com
PlayScotland www.playscotland.org
Youth Link Scotland www.youthlink-scotland.org