PlayToday issue 70 - Play England

Prince William
launches
campaign to save
playing fields
As part of the Queen’s Diamond
Jubilee celebrations, Prince
William recently launched a
campaign to legally protect over
2,000 public playing fields by 2012.
Prince William is patron of the
Queen Elizabeth II Fields Challenge,
a campaign by Fields in Trust
(formally the National Playing
Fields Association), to protect
public playing fields and outdoor
play space as a childhood right.
The campaign aims to permenantly
protect over 2,000 sites.
In a video announcement
launching the campaign, the
Prince stressed: ‘Being able to
play outdoors is a basic right of
childhood. The Queen Elizabeth
II Fields Challenge will guarantee
that millions more children are
able to enjoy that right both now
and in the future.’
This campaign is part of the
Diamond Jubilee celebrations to
mark the Queen’s 60th year on
the throne. Together with Fields
in Trust, this campaign hopes
to acquire legal protection for
existing fields and to create
new playing fields by persuading
landowners to allow their land to
come under a deed of dedication.
Alison Moore Gwyn, chief
executive of Fields in Trust
Children enjoy a kick-about at the launch
reiterated the charity’s aims
through the programme: ‘Fields
in Trust’s core vision is to ensure
that everyone – whether they
are young or old, able or disabled
and no matter where they live –
has access to outdoor space for
sport, play and recreation.’
❰ Visit the campaign website at:
www.qe2fields.com ❱
8
KIDS reaches milestone of
1,000th short break
KIDS’ Direct Short Breaks service reached
the milestone of providing 1,000 short breaks
to disabled children, young people and their
families after 10 months of the Parliamentary
launch of the internet-based service.
KIDS, a national charity providing a range of
services for disabled children, young people
and their families across seven English regions,
initiated the Direct Short Break service in
February 2009 to provide parents of disabled
children and young people with short breaks,
provided by fully trained workers. The service,
entirely booked online, allows disabled children
and young people the opportunity to enjoy and
experience activities of interest with the support
of a Short Break Worker while their parents can
confidently take a break.
The 1,000th short break took place in Blackburn
in the end of April when a worker accompanied a
17-year-old girl as she went to get her hair cut.
❰ Find out more at www.kids.org.uk ❱
IKEA launches ‘Playreport’
Recognising the importance of play, IKEA
recently commissioned a play report based
on research gathered from 8,000 parents and
3,000 children aged 7-12 years worldwide to
better understand parents’ and children’s play
experiences and the role of play in childhood
development.
Researchers used social media as a way to
gather data and found that many parents are
worried about play when it is not accompanied
by an educational agenda. Another interesting
finding is that many parents feel that they have
lost the ability to play. The report alternatively
suggests that play is a powerful learning engine
for children and that children incorporate play
into every aspect of a family home and into
everyday activities.
Fredrik Bengtsson who specialises in the
children’s line at IKEA stressed: ‘Play isn’t just fun,
it’s important – helping children develop skills for
life. So we take the fun of play seriously.’
❰ For more information visit the Playreport
Facebook pages at: www.facebook.com/playreport ❱