About Playskill

Specialist Playgroup for Children with Physical Needs

Playskill is a local charity that runs parent and child term-time groups for pre-school children with special physical needs.

Groups are run by a skilled team, including a Paediatric Physiotherapist, Occupational Therapist and Speech and Language Therapist.

We are based in Watford and Hemel Hempstead, Hertfordshire, and welcome interest from all local areas, including Three Rivers, Dacorum, St. Albans and Bushey. If you are local, but outside of these areas, please do contact to confirm whether you are within our radius.

We have:

demonstrated excellent results with children and families,
consistently met or exceeded our targets and outcomes,
gained an enviable reputation for our methods and work
received various local, regional and national awards, including coming close third in the National Lottery Awards “Best Education” category in 2013, and our Director (who also worked part-time for the NHS) receiving the NHS Patient Champion of the Year Award in 2014 for “a person or team who has involved patients, the public and service users in the design and development of services, and has made a noticeable impact on the way the organisation engages with patients”, and the High Sheriff of Hertfordshire’s Award in March 2015 for Services to the Community, and being nominated in April 2015 for ProAction’s Member of the Year award for working with children and young people across Hertfordshire, and awarded the Audientior Award for best charity in September 2015 for Watford.

Some results from a recent survey of all our families

key measurement for each site	Watford	Garston	Hemel
SMART targets achieved:	89%	92%	90.5%
Parents completely satisfied with their child’s improvement	73.3%	87.5%	70.5%
Parents completely satisfied with relevance of goals set for their child	80%	75%	75%
Parents with increased confidence in supporting their children	100%	100%	94.1%

Summer 2017

Our Trustees

Approved

Judith Cansdale

Biography:

Judy qualified as a SRN at The Middlesex Hospital and after a career break worked until retirement at Mount Vernon Hospital. She is married with three children and eleven grandchildren. Judy has been involved in a variety of voluntary of positions including running a Toddler Club, Guide company and as a school governor. She has family reasons for being committed to the work of Playskill.

Approved

Amanda Farrant

Approved

Charlotte Kohnhorst

Biography:

Charlotte lives in Chorleywood with her husband who works in Finance. They have three grown-up children.
Charlotte started her working life in Primary Schools in London and Amsterdam. After a break to have their children she returned to teaching and spent 12 years in a primary school teaching across a wide range of subjects.
She qualified in November ’15, after a 2 yr. course, in teaching children with specific learning difficulties within a normal school framework.
Charlotte is now Self – Employed and runs her own Company which assesses Children’s specific learning difficulties from Primary School through to University.
As a Trustee in PLAYSKILL she will benefit the Charity with her experience and skills in general education, and especially her expertise with children with specific learning difficulties.

Approved

Melissa Mitchel

Approved

Chris Neale

Biography:

Information Tech Trustee. BSc Physics and Maths . Chris is an independent IT consultant with over twenty five years of experience in the IT industry. He started and ran for some fifteen years a successful London based IT services and hosting business from which he took a back seat when his additional needs son Francis was born some three years ago. He came into contact with Playskill as a parent needing their expertise and help which did help Francis enormously. He has been happily married to Agnieszka for thirteen years.

Approved

Chris Paskin

Biography:

Treasurer Trustee. Chris works as the Finance Manager for Soul Survivor Watford church. He is a part qualified charity accountant with CIPFA.
Chris has worked for Soul Survivor Watford for 14 years, 5 as Buildings Manager then as Finance Manager.
He also has a 9year old son with joint hyper mobility syndrome.

Approved

Chris Raby

Biography:

Child Protection Trustee.
Chris is a registered nurse: she qualified as a RGN in 1978 and as a RSCN in 1994. She has spent most of her professional career working with sick children in the NHS where she held two senior nursing positions. She managed a range of children’s services for a local Mencap society from January 2002 until July 2007

Approved

Lucy Sharpe

Biography:

Secretary Trustee. Lucy qualified as a Physiotherapist in 2004 and. specialised in Children’s physiotherapy in 2007. She took a role Community Paediatric in 2009, working across schools, paediatric wards and outpatient clinics. Since then she has specialised in the management of preschool children and babies born preterm. Lucy is married and has two young boys. Lucy see the huge importance of Playskill's work in both her capacity as a health professional and as a parent.

Approved

Stuart Soloway

Biography:

Chair Trustee. I have been married for 42 years with 2 grown up Children and live in Ruislip. Our sons are both married, the elder has just returned from a 3 year posting in Hong Kong with his wife and their son and daughter. Our younger son married his wife 3 years ago and now lives in Boston [USA], with their 2 year old son and recently added twin daughters.
Our younger son was born with C P, and attended Mother and Baby classes at the Le Marie Centre Watford where my wife and I were active members of their Parents Association.
I spent my Business career working for large PLCs , working for Retailers such as MAC MARKETS, INTERNATIONAL STORES, and FINE FARE in the Supermarket industry. I then moved into Fashion Retailing as a Director of BURTONS and then NEXT followed by Entertainment Retailing as M.D. of WARNER BROS. Studio Stores.
I was introduced to Andrea and was hugely impressed by her work in forming and growing PLAYSKILL. I could easily identify and see the gap which PLAYSKILL fills for Parents and their Children.
My wife and I have always been Active in Community activities, and I am also a Trustee of The Bobath Centre in Finchley.
I am committed to the continuous improvement of the services PLAYSKILL offers to the Children and their Parents.

Approved

Andrew York

Biography:

Finance Trustee. Andrew is a Chartered Accountant, qualifying with KPMG, and has worked in Finance and Insurance for companies such as HSBC and Prudential. Now a part time lecturer at the University of West London and carries out a number of voluntary roles. He is married with a daughter and two grandchildren and lives in Chorleywood.

Director

Approved

Andrea Clarke

Biography:

Andrea Clarke M.C.S.P. B.Phys (Hons) - Playskill Director.
Andrea began work as a qualified physiotherapist for the NHS in 1994 and specialised in paediatrics in 1996. She worked up to a senior level in the NHS and in 2001 became a private practitioner and worked as a consultant for the national charity, Whizz-Kidz. In 2004 she also became the lead physiotherapist for the PACE centre in Aylesbury (a charity for children with physical disabilities) and worked there as a Consultant Physiotherapist until February 2009. Andrea established the Playskill pilot project in 2006. She continues to work as a private practitioner, and was working for the NHS working as a band 7 leading transitions work with physically disabled teenagers for North West London Hospitals Trust until March 2016 when she resigned to develop Playskill further. In June 2018 she was awarded an MBE in the Queen’s Birthday Honours list for services to Children and Young People.

Playskill

About Playskill

We have:

Support our work

Some results from a recent survey of all our families

Our Trustees

Director

Parent's representatives to the Trustees