Andrew Gillan was a maverick playworker and play champion, who lived in the South West of England where he worked with hundreds of different communities to make accessible and open play.

Andrew was a founding member of the first IDST! running innovatory rave parties, ceremonies and events, such as the Open Fire! And CATNAP in fields and under motorways. He ran paint fights and cycling experiences with Les Velobicis Group.

He was a play technician running UV scare’em tunnels under Bristol for Splash & Ripple, sensory rooms, and voice experiences with the Feral Choir.

Andrew was an exponent of using outdoor play methods to work with marginalised communities and improve relationships between people. He brought new ideas about how to make society more playful into his practice, and was constantly investigating what being a playworker could be.

In particular, he employed unconventional action research to study creating ‘deep play’ states and utilising the imagination. As part of his continued work and study, he developed strategies in non-digitised play and transforming play spaces, although his beliefs about temporality and non-hierarchies leaving no trace mean his ideas are largely unheard or unpublished.

Sadly, Andrew died whilst asleep at his home in 2016. His death came as a shock to many who worked with him and knew him, but the talent and expertise in his chosen fields as well as his role as an instigator and encourager of play was well known. Many children and educators across Bristol, Bath and Somerset knew Andrew.

Like many in his field, the austerity cuts from 2010 had a big effect on the available jobs and funding for someone like Andrew, and many of the programmes he worked on were forced to use part-time hiring. His role became that of a Play Ranger, and many of his jobs after this time were in Care Work or School Liaison – training staff in schools to use play to its fullest.