Trustees
Anita Grant is Play England’s Chair.
From 2006 she led Islington Play Association (IPA) as its Chief Executive. The IPA works to improve children’s lives and to mitigate the effects of poverty through providing excellent play and education services. The IPA delivers major contracts for the local authority, independently funded innovative services for children living in challenging circumstances and continues its campaigning role fighting for the rights of children.
In 2022, Anita started a new career and became Assistant Chief Officer (ACO) for Trust and Legitimacy at Sussex Police.
Panash Shah runs Cambridge Kids Club, a Cambridgeshire focused provider of Out of School settings and supplementary services. He has previously been a Management Consultant with the big-4 and has a Master’s in Business Administration (MBA) from the University of Cambridge, Judge Business School. He has a strong skill set in areas of commercial and non-commercial enterprises and was previously an executive trustee for a national faith-based charity.
Since 2007, Kirsty Wilson has lead the development of the Play team at Children’s Scrapstore. The Play Team focus on developing play in school with the Scrapstore PlayPod project along with other projects and products.
Before that, Kirsty worked for a variety of voluntary sector organisations developing outdoor learning, community and play projects from after-school clubs, and forest schools to designing community spaces and resource library.
Helen Dodd is a Professor of Child Psychology at the University of Exeter. She conducts research into the benefits of play for children’s mental health. Helen holds a prestigious UKRI Future Leaders Fellowship which funds this work. Helen led the PlayFirstUK campaign during Covid-19, advocating for children’s play to be prioritised as part of the recovery strategy. She also co-led the Summer of Play campaign in 2021, working with Play England and Save the Children as well as other partners. Helen is a recognised expert in children’s play, having received awards from a number of organisations including the British Psychological Society, and has published extensively in this area.
Richard Cocker is a dedicated Landscape & Playground Designer, trained to MLA inLandscape Architecture (Planning and Design) and has a proven record of using his passion and flare to create landscape & play spaces that not only look aesthetically pleasing but provide a positive user experience.
Working in the Sports & Play industry for the last 10 years has allowed him to build up an enviable knowledge bank of Natural "Landscape Led" Play Area Design, MUGA’s & 21st Century & Youth Play Provision such as Skate Parks and Parkourking to bring back quality ADULT FREE PLAY to the masses of (online obsessed) children across the UK
Archie Morrell is a Residential Care Home, Registered Manager. Formerly a Head of Service with a history of working in the Play, Youth and Education sectors. Skilled in Playwork, Youth Work, Teamwork, Leadership, and Project Management.