Playday is an initiative to encourage thousands of children and their families to play at hundreds of community events like the one arranged by Willmott Dixon. It aims to highlight and celebrate the importance of play in children’s lives.

Each year, a team from Willmott Dixon’s Rotherham branch, who carry out housing repairs and maintenance work for Rotherham Metropolitan Borough Council, organise for a coach to take local families to the seaside for the day.

This year saw the Willmott Dixon team take 16 families to Scarborough’s South Bay beach where the youngsters and their parents enjoyed rounders, face painting and donkey rides, followed by fish and chips on the beach. Willmott Dixon also provided buckets and spades to help the children make the most of their trip to the seaside, with further activities including a sandcastle building competition, arts and craft tent and games area.

It is the fifth time that Willmott Dixon has arranged a trip to Scarborough for Rotherham families as part of the Payday initiative. It’s one of a range of community activities and engagement the company provides in the town as part of its ethos to contribute to society’s overall well-being. This includes a national target to improve the life chances of 3,000 young people by the end of 2015, with many of those in Rotherham, and investment in local apprentices Building futures in ROTHERHAM

Michael Pearson, Willmott Dixon Partnership’s community and customer Partner for Rotherham:

“We really enjoy being able to arrange such a fun day out for so many local families, with hundreds benefiting over the past five years. Children need to have the opportunity to play as this is essential for their health, well-being and happiness, as well as helping to build vital life and social skills. While the Playday daytrip took months of planning, it was worth it to see the smiles on the kids’ faces.”