About Us
Here is a bit of information about us.
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Our Story
The Shropshire Playing Fields Association (SPFA) was established in 1925 as a local branch of the National Playing Fields Association. Its mission has always been to protect, promote, and improve community green spaces across Shropshire.
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Our Partners
We work closely with the Lieutenancy, Members of Parliament, councils, schools, voluntary groups, and local residents. Through these partnerships, SPFA helps to advise and safeguard playing fields and recreational spaces, ensuring they remain accessible and welcoming for everyone.
Our Mission
We have three main objectives. These objectives are to: Protect against the loss of outdoor sport, play and informal recreation facilities. Support the enhancement of existing outdoor facilities. Support the provision of new facilities that are fit for purpose to meet the demand of now and the future.
See
Profiles
The Value of Play
“Play is the engine, sport a vehicle, and people the drivers.”
Play Is a Human Drive
Everyone is born with an instinct to play. Play is not a luxury, it is a natural drive — like hunger — that helps us survive, adapt and make sense of the world. It gives space for curiosity, imagination and exploration from the very start of life.
Play Builds Learning
Play provides the first building blocks for learning. Through playful experiences we develop thinking, language, social understanding and problem-solving. The right kind of play at the right stage supports healthy development and confidence.
Play, Sport & Community
When play, physical activity and sport work together, they can support social inclusion, reduce crime, improve health and help people feel they belong. Play is the energy that makes sport and activity meaningful, not just competitive.
Play Through Life
Play changes shape across the whole life cycle — from early imaginative play and exploration, to teenage identity and social belonging, to adult volunteering, creativity and gentle, social activity in later life. Play is lifelong, not just for children.
Different Ways to Play
People play in different ways: through humour and joking, through physical activity and movement, through exploring, imagining, storytelling, friendly competition, organising and leading, collecting, restoring and creating. Good spaces for play make room for all these styles, not just one type.
Quality of Experience
The quality of the experience matters more than the label on the activity. Play should feel absorbing, welcoming, social, and confidence-building — not intimidating or exclusive. For us, play is not a separate “thing”; it sits inside every activity and helps people feel valued, included and able to grow.
Example Projects
Here are some examples of projects we have been involved in.
Radbrook College
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Lidl Superstore Shrewsbury
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Shorncliffe Drive Junior Pitch Park
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