Learning at Work Week 2026 took place between 18th and 24th May and celebrated the value of continual learning, personal growth, and development within the workplace. This year’s theme, “Many Ways to Learn”, reflected something that is deeply embedded within life at Playdale.
Throughout the week, 5 members of the Playdale team came together to share their experiences and learn from one another. Celebrating the many ways knowledge and creativity can shape both personal and professional development.
Many others joined the sessions in person and virtually to learn, ask questions, and be inspired.
Rachael Howarth, our Aftersales Coordinator, introduced us to her handcrafted jewellery business, Auburn Fern.
Outside of work, Rachael spends her evenings and weekends carefully creating beautiful jewellery pieces from polymer clay and silver, combining creativity with incredible attention to detail and craftsmanship. During her session, she shared how each design is created and the importance she places on producing high-quality products that customers truly value.
Rachael also spoke about how her experience within Playdale’s Customer Care Team gave her the confidence to launch her own business. Equally, running Auburn Fern has strengthened her communication and customer service skills, helping her continue to grow within her role at Playdale.
Our Procurement Lead, Nicola Johnson, showcased just how many hats one person can wear.
Alongside her role at Playdale, Nicola plays an active role on her family farm and works tirelessly throughout busy periods such as lambing season. She also recently stepped back from running her own floristry business, although she still takes on projects from time to time. Alongside this, Nicola leads her local Young Farmers group and supports the organisation of the annual tractor run within her community.
Her session highlighted the dedication, organisation, and communication skills required to balance multiple responsibilities, with many of these transferable skills playing a huge role in her success within procurement at Playdale.
On Wednesday, our Marketing Coordinator, Jasmine Palmer Armstrong, shared the story behind her photography business, JasminePhotography.
Jasmine guided the team through her portfolio, discussing creative photography techniques, editing processes, and practical tips that could help improve everyday photography. Her session demonstrated how creativity and technical skill work together to create engaging visual content.
She also explored how photography has supported her development within marketing at Playdale, from improving image quality to experimenting with social media and content strategies across different audiences.
Thursday’s session was led by Playground Designer, Sarah Docker, whose illustration work left the team amazed.
Sarah showcased a portfolio filled with children’s book illustrations, murals, prints, and commissioned artwork, alongside physical copies of books she has illustrated. Her creativity and artistic style demonstrated the power of imagination, storytelling, and visual communication.
Many of the skills Sarah uses within her illustration work naturally complement her role at Playdale, where creativity, detail, and visual thinking are essential when designing playgrounds that are both exciting and safe for children.
To round off the week, Design Engineer, Khaleel Shamsuddin, introduced the team to Sweebo, his family-run fudge company, and, of course, brought plenty of samples along too.
Khaleel shared how the business was created through collaboration between families and explained the cultural inspiration behind the brand, including the tradition of bringing gifts when visiting somebody’s home. He also spoke about the different fudge flavours they create and the importance of quality and customer feedback within the business.
The session highlighted how product testing, problem solving, and understanding customer expectations within Sweebo have strengthened his approach to designing and engineering playground equipment at Playdale.
Learning at Work Week 2026 was a fantastic opportunity to celebrate the talent, creativity, and ambition that exists across the Playdale team.
From photography and illustration through to jewellery making, farming, floristry, and food production, every session demonstrated that learning does not only happen through formal training. It happens through passion projects, creative outlets, hands-on experiences, and the willingness to grow continually.
The week was filled with inspiration, collaboration, and plenty of learning, perfectly reflecting this year’s theme of “Many Ways to Learn.”
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