PlayToday issue 70 - Play England

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6 Think tank says playwork qualification should be ‘suspended immediately’ The Conservative think tank, the Centre for Policy Studies, has called for the immediate suspension of the playwork qualification as it is ‘of unproven value’. In a report published in June that recommends cuts to The Children’s Plan, the authors Tom London adventure playground destroyed in fire A fierce fire destroyed parts of the Timbuktu Adventure Playground, a voluntary sector playground that recently received funding from Play England’s third sector adventure playground funding programme. The popular playground received £19,000 from the funding programme for recent refurbishments which were destroyed by the fire on 24 May. Damage to the playground is estimated in the region of Image: Fire damage at Timbuktu Adventure Playground Burkard and Tom Clelford, identify spending commitments from the Play Strategy as ‘expensive luxuries which should be the natural object of interest for the National Lottery’. They state that central funding for the pathfinder and playbuilder schemes should be scrapped together with the funding for 4,000 playworkers to complete a level three vocational qualification. ❰ The report: Cutting the Children’s Plan is available online at: http://www.cps.org.uk ❱ £70,000, and a recently built climbing wall, climbing frames, swings, bikes, benches and most regrettable, a massive wooden ship, were all reduced to ashes. Community supporters and neighbours are currently trying to collect enough funds to cover the costs of the damage and restore the playground. Commenting on the reaction of the community, Darren McLaughlin who works at Timbuktu said: ‘The community is devastated. People keep offering help and one school is planning a fundraising event.’ Islington Police and London Fire Brigade are still investigating the cause of the fire. BIG’s Healthy Families programme awards £9.5m to play projects in Wales The Big Lottery Fund (BIG) recently announced a £9.5m cash boost for 10 play projects to create new play initiatives and facilities in local communities across Wales. These grants, from the Child’s Play strand of BIG’s £20m Healthy Families programme, aim to achieve one of the three following outcomes: get more children accessing play opportunities; create a local infrastructure to provide and plan for children’s play activities; or develop a joined-up approach to nutrition, physical activity and play. Four of this round’s grant winners include Cardiff City Council’s Cardiff and Vale Play Project who received £998,177; Rhondda Cynon Taff Play Association’s Branching out Community Play Project was awarded £979,511, and Carmarthenshire Association of Voluntary Services was allocated close to £1m, which will be used to provide mobile play facilities for 1,000 children aged 12 and over. The Torfaen Voluntary Alliance received funding to develop a toolkit to support the sustainability of community based play projects across Torfaen, Newport and Monmouthshire. Commenting on their award, John Taylor, operations manager of the Torfaen Voluntary Alliance, said: ‘We are pleased and proud to be the recipient of a grant and look forward to improving and enhancing play provision… This money will make a massive difference to our project.’ ❰ Find out more at: www. biglotteryfund.org.uk/wales ❱
Survey finds parents fear child abduction over health risks of childhood obesity A survey by the national charities Parentline Plus and Living Streets, as part of the national Walk to School Week campaign, found that a majority of parents fear their child being abducted or killed in a road accident over the more likely threat to their health from childhood inactivity leading to obesity. Results revealed that 30 per cent of parents feared the abduction or murder of their child while only five per cent expressed concern over their child’s poor health later in life due to current levels of childhood inactivity. These figures greatly contrast the statistics that show that the actual threat of a child being abducted or murdered by a stranger is one in one million, whereas a child’s risk of severe health issues and mortality as a result of lack of physical exercise is one in three. The results also show that half of the parents surveyed underestimated how much physical exercise is needed for a child to maintain a healthy lifestyle. The government recommends that children participate in seven hours of physical activity per week; however the results reveal that only 68 per cent of boys and 76 per cent of girls actually meet this recommendation. The survey supports Living Streets’ national Walk to School Week campaign which encourages parents and children to engage in physical activity by leaving the car at home and walking to school. IPA world conference 2011 website goes live The website for the International Play Association’s (IPA) triennial world conference, taking place next year on 4-7 July 2011 in Cardiff, is now online. Hosted by Play Wales on behalf of the IPA, the 50th anniversary world conference will focus on the theme of play in the future, and explore the ways to create a future where playing is valued and where every country and neighbourhood upholds all children’s right to time, freedom, and a safe enough environment for play. Wales Cymru 2011 The conference will cover the themes related to play: individual and social; environment and space; and society and culture. Taking place over four days, the conference offers delegates the opportunity to share evidence, experience and examples of good practice with colleagues from around the world. Registration opens 1 September 2010, and the deadline for abstracts and proposals is 10 November 2010. ❰ Visit the website at: www.ipa2011.org ❱ Pensioners’ playground opens in London’s Hyde Park A £50,000 playground for ‘pensioners’ is open in Hyde Park through a joint project between the Westminster City Council and The Royals Parks. The first-ever, public pensioners’ playground in London opened to give older park users a chance to work out in the middle of Hyde Park. The 125 squaremetre playground includes fitness equipment such as: a cross-trainer, sit-up bench, body-flexer, free runner, flex wheel and exercise bike. Drawing from similar ideas in China and Europe, The Royal Parks and the council initiated this project as a way to encourage people of all ages to get outside, socialise, exercise and most importantly, have fun. www.nottssport.com Innovation House, Magna Park, Lutterworth, LE17 4XH, UK | t. +44 [0] 1455 883 730 | f. +44 [0] 1455 883 755 | e. info@nottssport.com NOTTS SPORT® & CHILDSPLAY® are registered trademarks. 7
Page 1 and 2: Issue 70 Summer 2010 News Coalition
Page 3 and 4: Contents News 4 Coalition task forc
Page 5: New government signals era of chang
Page 9 and 10: Playday 2010: Our place Better plac
Page 11 and 12: Manifesto aims to keep play on the
Page 13 and 14: East Midlands: Consulting with chil
Page 15 and 16: shifting power away from Whitehall,
Page 17 and 18: Case study: HMP and YOI Low Newton
Page 19 and 20: cross-generational leisure, sport a
Page 21 and 22: Child-friendly communities Keeping
Page 23 and 24: Play in schools School recess and g

PlayToday issue 70 - Play England

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