Play England’s Annual General Meeting takes place on Monday 6 March this year in Eastbourne. Our guest speaker is Mike Greenaway, Director, Play Wales. We encourage all of our members to consider attending. Whilst we know that not all of our members are playworkers, there are a wide range of workshops that are of interest …
Child-friendly cities benefit us all
Sam Williams is a landscape architect at Arup, currently leading a research project into how and why we should be designing child-friendly cities. Due out in July, it will aim to empower everyone influencing and engaging with the built environment, to integrate playfulness and freedom to explore as part of everyday life. The research will …
Keeping children indoors is not the solution to pollution!
The response to the recent air pollution alerts in London alarmed many of us who champion children’s right to play in the UK, writes Marguerite Hunter-Blair, Chief Executive of Play Scotland. Here she looks at the impact of environmental pollution on children’s play, and responses to it – both internationally and in Scotland. The impact …
Play best way for children to get active
By Nicola Butler, Chair of Trustees Play is vital for children’s health and wellbeing. It is particularly important for disadvantaged and disabled children, who often face greater barriers to access appropriate and good quality play opportunities. Play England is delighted to be part of #GetOutGetActive, an exciting new programme that supports disabled and non-disabled people …
Play holds key to inclusion
Play is the best way to offer inclusion, says Karen Kewell, co-founder of #ToyLikeMe, an organisation that was set up to call the global toy industry to account on its failure to represent the 150 million disabled children in its toys. This year, Lego launched its first ever wheelchair-using figure, which has been directly credited …
Diversity in Play
By Jade Newton-Gardener Having worked in the Play and Youth Work profession for over 16 years in a variety of roles and settings, writing about diversity within the play sector is very dear to my heart. ‘Why?’, you may ask. Well, being a Black British woman who loves the work I do and, without a …
Thinking creatively, working collaboratively
This was also the prevailing mood at Play England’s Annual General Meeting, which took place in February. With a good turnout from members, we had a wide-ranging debate on our annual report and strategic direction. Particular thanks go to Wendy Russell for facilitating the Conversation about Play England and Phil Doyle for his presentation on …
Disabled children face severe restrictions to play
By Steve Rose, Head of Children’s Specialist Services at Sense Play is critical in giving children the best start in life and improving outcomes for children and their families. Unfortunately Sense has found that many families with disabled children across the country face severe restrictions accessing play. At the end of February, Former Secretary …
Increased investment is vital if disabled children are to access the play they need and deserve
By Nicola Butler, Chair of Trustees Play England welcomes the timely report, ‘The Case for Play’, launched today by the national deafblind charity, Sense, with former Home Secretary Lord Blunkett. It reveals that disabled children in England and Wales are missing out on play opportunities that are vital to their development. All children have a …
Welcome to Play England’s new website
Nicola Butler Chair of Trustees, Play England To coincide with Play England’s Annual General Meeting tomorrow, we’re launching our new look website. Now, it’s much easier to locate resources, like ‘Design for Play’ and ‘Managing Risk in Play Provision’, that are essential reading for anyone involved in designing play opportunities for children. We’ve also themed our …