Dr Fraser Brown

Dr. Fraser Brown is the first Professor of Playwork in the UK, and joint course leader of the Playwork degree at Leeds Metropolitan University. He has presented at conferences across the UK and around the world, and has produced several key texts in the field of play and playwork. He is the Chair of the Aid for Romanian Children charitable trust, and an Executive Board member of the Association for the Study of Play (TASP).

He is well-known in the field of playwork for his research into its therapeutic effects on an abandoned children in Romania. His research interests include the impact of deprivation on children’s play behaviour and, the assessment of play value.

After studying Politics at University, he spent three years as a playworker on an adventure playground in Runcorn. He then managed a range of projects for the North West Play Association. For two years he was District Leisure Officer in Middlesbrough and subsequently held posts with Playboard and the National Playing Fields Association. Before joining Leeds Metropolitan University, he was Director of the playwork training agency Children First for ten years.

His publications include Rethinking Children’s Play (2013); Foundations of Playwork (2008); The Venture: a Case Study of an Adventure Playground (2007); Children Without Play (2005); Playwork: Theory and Practice (2003); School Playgrounds (1990) and Working Together: a Playwork Training Pack (1989). He was also a contributor to Perspectives on Play (2014); Complex Trauma and It’s Effects (2012); and Childhood: Services and Provision for Children (2007).

F.Brown@leedsmet.ac.uk

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