Two years ago we reported on Fraser Brown's therapeutic playwork with 16 abandoned children, found tied to their cots in the Romanian paediatric hospital of Sighisoara, with no stimulation or opportunities for play ('Learning to Play', Out of School, June 2002).
Working with the White Rose Initiative (WRI), Fraser, a senior playwork lecturer at Leeds Metropolitan University, trained Romanian woman Edit Bus in the principles of therapeutic playwork. After returning to Romania she was joined by fellow student Sophie Webb, and visited regularly by Fraser.
The playworkers dramatically changed the lives of the children, who were untied from their cots and taken to visit a playroom every day. Slowly gaining the confidence to play, the children began to learn and develop, eventually interacting with playworkers and each other. All of the children underwent significant change in socialisation, physical activity and general enjoyment of play.
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