Playing for England
The road to a national play strategy
Adrian Voce
Director, Play England
FEPI
Playfair, 23 June , 2009

1. What is the Play Strategy?
2. How did we get here?
3. What does it mean?
4. What can we learn?

1. What is the Play Strategy?

10 year plan to make England
the best country in the world
for children to grow up.
One of five first principles:
Children and young people
need to enjoy their childhood
as well as grow up prepared
for adult life
December, 2007

Capital spending
programme and
consultation launched April
2008
10 year strategy published
December 2008

The 2020 vision
• Every residential area has a variety of supervised and
unsupervised places for play, free of charge;
• Local neighbourhoods are, and feel like, safe, interesting
places to play;
• Routes to children’s play space are safe and accessible
for all children and young people;
• Parks and open spaces are attractive and welcoming to
children and young people, and are well-maintained and
well-used;

The 2020 vision
• Children and young people have a clear stake in public
space and their play is accepted by their neighbours;
• Children and young people behave in a way that respects
other people and property;
• Children and young people and their families take an
active role in the development of local play spaces; and
• Play spaces are attractive, welcoming, engaging and
accessible for all local children and young people,
children of both genders, disabled children and children
from minority groups in the community.

Key elements
• £235m over three years
• 30 Staffed adventure playgrounds
• 3500 new or renewed play areas
• Support for voluntary sector play providers
• Mainstreaming inclusive play for disabled children
• Focus on design quality, natural materials, landscaping
and intelligent risk management
• Expanding and professionalising playwork

Key elements
• National performance indicator for children’s satisfaction
with local play provision
• Guidance to planners
• Cross-professional training
• Support for volunteering and 3rd sector
• Promoting play in schools and childcare
• Major evaluation

Design principles for public play
areas

Meet community needs

Make use of natural elements

Make use of natural elements

Build in opportunities to take risks and
challenges

Well located

Have an element of flexibility built
into the layout

Bespoke design

Imaginative use of equipment

Inclusive

Adventure playground essential
elements
• A rich and evolving environment where children can
play all year round
• Children actively involved in creation and modification
of a varied play landscape
• At the heart of the community
• Staffed by skilled playworkers for all children
• Free of charge, open access, no programme or
curriculum

Adventure playground essential
elements
• Spontaneous free expression of the drive to play
• Engagement in the full range of play types
• Exploration of physical, social, emotional, imaginary
and sensory spaces
• Free flow in giving and responding to ‘play cues’
• A shared flexible space
• A sense of magic – the child’s eye view of what is
special has precedence

Adventure playgrounds

Statutory Guidance
“Children’s Trusts will require a strategic approach to play
across the local area, with the full involvement of children, local
communities and the third sector in decision-making. Delivering
excellent outdoor play opportunities for all children will require
working closely with the broader Local Strategic Partnership on
issues such as town and highways planning and the management
and maintenance of public space, in order to promote communities
that are more child-friendly”.
Children’s Trusts: Statutory guidance on inter-agency
cooperation to improve well-being of children, young people and
their families
(DCSF, 2008)

Landscape
Architects
and
Designers Schools and
Planners and
extended
Developers
services
Parks
Highways
and
and
Leisure
Play Transport
Partnership
Police
and street Public Health
wardens
Housing
Children’s
And
Workforce
RSLs

Potential position of play partnership as part of the
emerging governance structure for children’s trusts
Local Strategic
Partnership
Note
Children’s Trust governance
Local Board arrangements vary
Safeguarding
Children’s Board Play
partnership
Children’s Trust
Executive
Joint Operational and
Commissioning Operational
Localities Operational
Advisory Groups
Operational
Groups Operational
Groups
Unit
Groups Groups
(Adapted from Joint Planning and Commissioning Unit
HM Government, 2009)

Play within the strategic planning framework
Local Strategic Community
Strategy
Partnership
Children & (Adapted from Joint Planning and
Children’s Trust Young People Commissioning Unit
Board Plan HM Government, 2009)
Commissioning
Children’s Trust
Framework
Executive Local
(top-tier)
play strategy
Joint
Joint
Commissioning
Commissioning
Strategies
Unit
Joint Commissioning Function

2. How did
we get here?

• Chris Smith
• Frank Dobson
• Ken Livingstone

Ken Livingstone
First elected Mayor of London
Play Policy for London

Rt. Hon Chris Smith MP
Secretary of Culture, Media and Sport
• £200m lottery money for play
• Labour election pledge, 2001

Rt. Hon Frank Dobson MP
Former Secretary of Health and
candidate for London Mayor
Chair of Coram;s Field’s children’s
playground, Central London
• National Play Review

The Play Review 2003 - 04
• Chair, Frank Dobson MP
• Lead reviewer, Tim Gill
• Nationwide consultation
• Recommended:
• Allocated funding
• Free, local, inclusive
provision / spaces
• Improved planning
• National support

umzhollen:
Will talk about
how we are
influencing
change.
Highlighting
activity with WM
Cultural
Consortia,
London Children’s Play England launched,
services network,
SE physical April 2006
Activity Forum,
London Olympic £15m over 5 years
Boroughs and
others. £127m to local councils
.
Local Play Strategies

350 Events
100,000 children
Radio 4 Today programme
Radio 4 Woman’s Hour
Radio 5 Live
BBC1 The One Show
BBC1 Breakfast News
The Guardian comment
Guardian Unlimited (on line) comment
The Times
The Observer
The Daily Telegraph

“Our three priorities when
we take office must be
education, education,
education
Tony Blair, October, 1996

The nature of play
Its importance and benefits
‘

3. What does it mean?

WHEREAS, We, Children of America, are declared to have
been born free and equal, and
WHEREAS, We are yet in bondage in this land of the free; are
forced to toil the long day or the long night, with no control over the
conditions of labor, as to health or safety or hours or wages, and
with no right to the rewards of our service, therefore be it
RESOLVED,
1. That childhood is endowed with certain inherent and inalienable
rights, among which are freedom from toil for daily bread;
the right to play and to dream; the right to the normal sleep of
the night season; the right to an education, that we may have
equality of opportunity for developing all that there is in us of
mind and heart.
Declaration of Dependence by the Children of
America in Mines and Factories and Workshops Assembled, 1913

Four generations
of the Thomas
family.
(Natural England, 2007)

An overview of child well-
being in rich countries
Unicef ‘report card 7’,
2007

“We must help families to
find the balance between
between education, care
and play”
Gordon Brown, January 2005

“we should (not) wrap them
in cotton wool. Childhood is
a time for learning and
exploring…My assumption
is that if it snows, kids go
out and have snowball
fights”
Ed Balls, August, 2007

"We all are having to balance,
keeping our children safe …
(with) letting them play and
learn about risk.
"That's best done in …decent
playgrounds where kids can
play and be safe are brilliant. ”
Gordon Brown, January 2005

3. What does it mean and what can we
learn?

• Marshall the evidence
• Know what you want (and don’t want)
• Build alliances
• Communicate (both ways)
• Speak to power
• Use the media
• Be bold
• Plan it and cost it