2009-2010

Annual report

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Annual report 2009 - 2010

Why play?

Play is an essential part of every child’s life and is vital to their development. Through play, children enjoy and explore the world around them and develop and practise skills. It is essential for physical, emotional, mental and intellectual development, and for acquiring social and behavioural skills. The modern world presents a range of barriers to children’s play, with potentially harmful consequences for their health and future life chances.

What do we mean by play?

Everyone knows what play is, but it is hard to define. For us the term play covers the infinite range of activities and behaviours freely chosen and fulfilling by the child. Children play on their own and with others. Play has many forms: it may be boisterous and energetic or quiet and contemplative; light-hearted or very serious; focused or ephemeral. Regardless of its form, play is an immensely important part of children’s lives and has a big role for their families and communities.

Children’s right to play

The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child was ratified by the UK government in 1991. Play England is committed to achieving the full implementation of this right, to ensure all children in England can play.

Article 31 states that:

1. Parties recognise the right of the child to rest and leisure, to engage in play and recreational activities appropriate to the age of the child and to participate freely in cultural life and the arts.

2. Parties shall respect and promote the right of the child to participate fully in cultural and artistic life and shall encourage the provision of appropriate and equal opportunities for cultural, artistic, recreational and leisure activity.

For more information read our Charter for Children’s Play, available at:www.playengland.org.uk/charter

Contents

About Play England 2

Message from the Chair 2

Message from the Director 3

Our vision for play in England 5

Working with national government 6

Raising the profile of play 7

Making the case for play 9

Supporting play providers 10

Our future 11

Membership 12

Finance and funding 13

Staff team 14

Message from the Chair of the Play England Council

This year has been a roller coaster for Play England, as for many in the play sector. Last autumn we reported on unprecedented growth in resources and in governmental support for children’s play. Now we all face an uncertain future. Already, Play England’s programmes have been cut. Prolonged uncertainty about the government’s intentions for the playbuilder scheme may result in projected new playgrounds being lost. And, at the time of writing, we do not know what impact the Comprehensive Spending Review will have directly or indirectly on children’s opportunities to play freely in their own neighbourhoods.

Expansion has been exhilarating. Sudden unplanned contraction is correspondingly painful. I would like to pay tribute to staff who are no longer with us for their undoubted contribution to Play England’s successes in recent years and to thank those who remain for their continuing effort to maintain important areas of work.

These are hard times but children should not be asked to pay the price. Our mission, set out in the Charter for Children’s Play, must be resilient. There is an intangible but lasting legacy from the unprecedented reach of the Play Strategy and Play England’s strategic programmes. Significantly more people, both in their professional and private capacities, now appreciate the complex and crucial role of play in children’s lives. Productive new cross-professional links have been forged and there is a broader, more sophisticated understanding of the variety of ways in which to provide opportunities for children to play. There is much to build on in the coming year.

Sandra Melville, Chair of Play England Council

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About Play England

About Play England

Play England stands for children’s right to play. We want to help build a country where all children have somewhere to play that is as spacious, adventurous and welcoming as they need and deserve. To do this, we promote the value of play so that its importance to children’s happiness, health and development, as well as to their families and communities, is recognised by the adult world. We work to ensure that children and young people in England have the space and opportunity to play freely as part of their daily lives, at school and other services, at home, and throughout the public realm.

It’s our job to:

•supportlocalcommunitiestoplanforplay•helppeopletoworktogetherforplay•researchanddemonstratethebenefitsand

impact of play provision•promoteequalityanddiversityinplayprovision•raiseawarenessandpromotestandards.

We also give advice and support to anyone involved in the strategic development of children’s play.

Play England is part of NCB and is supported by the Big Lottery Fund.

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Message from the Director

Play England was established in April 2006 ‘to promote the sustainable strategic development of play provision as a free service to children and young people, to bring about a long-term positive change in attitude within local authorities and other agencies about the importance, value and status of children’s play and its provision, and to increase the widespread recognition and adoption of good practice in play provision’.

As for many organisations and communities, 2010 has been a difficult year for Play England. We lost more than 20 good members of staff as a result of a reduction in our government contract. The future is uncertain as unprecedented cuts in public spending greatly diminished the prospects for national play policy and our role delivering it. Nevertheless, the gains of the last few years, and our role in achieving them, means that we are as well placed as anyone to withstand the austerity years we are entering and continue to provide a valuable, if smaller resource for all those working for children’s play.

As we approach the end of this five-year plan, we can confidently claim to have achieved these ambitions. An independently verified evaluation by NCB published in 2009 found that Play England had a ‘considerable, wide-ranging and substantially successful track record of achieving significant progress for its sector … beyond expectations in some regards’ and that the organisation was ‘key to building upon current momentum and ensuring the longer-term impact of the recent policy initiatives and investment in children’s play.’

Play England’s achievements and influence have indeed been considerable: a national Play Strategy; £390m of national funding (notwithstanding cuts to the final year of the playbuilder programme, still to be announced at the time of writing); many millions more of match funding for local play provision; universal adoption of area-wide play strategies; new benchmarks for play area design; a hugely influential approach to managing risk in play provision; 30 new adventure playgrounds; hundreds of play partnerships and other cross-sector collaborations for play; play provision included in the national performance framework for local areas; a major research review of children’s play; almost a million children enjoying hundreds of Playday events every year; and, most importantly of all, seven per cent more children expressing satisfaction with the play provision in their local area.

1 Big Lottery Fund grant agreement, February 2006.

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These are all substantial gains in which we have had a key role, and for which the whole play sector can be proud. There are many others, too numerous to list. Together they represent a major change in the status and priority afforded to children’s play in England and real tangible improvements to children’s play opportunities on the ground. The Times recently called the changes we have brought about as ‘the play revolution’.

But the play revolution has really only just begun. The Association of Play Industries estimates that even if all of the 3,500 playbuilder play areas had been completed, this would only represent 15 per cent of the number needing renewal. Seven per cent more children may have reported satisfaction with their local play opportunities, but 46 per cent are still unhappy. Policy for planning, housing, highways – not to mention schools – still routinely overlooks children’s play needs.

Our Big Lottery Fund (BIG) grant in 2006 was also to establish Play England as a national champion for children’s play beyond the life of the programmes that made it possible: to provide a lasting resource to support all those aiming to provide for and improve children’s play lives in England. The scale of the challenges facing them in these difficult times for the public sector means that Play England will be more, not less, needed in the years ahead.

Now that our lottery funding is coming to an end, rather than ‘job done’ it is our immediate and urgent task to establish a new model for Play England that can grow to meet these challenges into the future. It is a task to which our immensely dedicated and talented team is fully committed.

Adrian Voce, Director of Play England

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Our vision for play in England

•Ineveryresidentialareathereareavarietyof supervised and unsupervised places for play, free of charge

•Localneighbourhoodsare,andfeellike,safe,interesting places to play

•Routestochildren’splayspacearesafeandaccessible for all children and young people

•Parksandopenspacesareattractiveandwelcoming to children and young people, and are well-maintained and well-used

•Allschoolsandchildcareofferchildrenregularopportunities, space and resources to play, inside and out, with the support of trained staff and rich play environments

•Playprovisionandplayablepublicspaceisdesigned, managed and maintained according to recognised standards

•Playprovisionofferschildrenstimulating,challenging play opportunities where they can encounter and manage risks for themselves without being in danger of serious harm

•Allthoseinvolvedinplayprovisionhavesuitable training, qualifications and ongoing

professional development in play principles and practice

•Parents,carersandallwhoworkwithchildrenand young people understand, promote, enable and support play according to their role

•Childrenandyoungpeoplehaveaclearstakein public space and their play is accepted by their neighbours

•Children,youngpeopleandtheirfamiliestakeanactive role in the development of local play spaces

•Playspacesareattractive,welcoming,engaging and accessible for all local children and young people, children of each gender, disabled children and children from minority groups in the community

•Childrenandyoungpeoplearethemainstakeholder in the development of local play spaces, their views and ideas inform the design, planning and development process; and

•Children’soutdoorplayopportunitiesofferchildren the chance to enjoy and engage with nature and to cultivate environmental awareness through play.

Play England has been a consistent advocate for a long-term vision for play. This vision is that by 2020:

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Our vision for play in England

Play England’s ‘support and challenge’ role, until May 2010, positioned the former regional teams to work directly with local authorities to maximise the impact of the government investment in new local play provision. Our Play Shaper programme also enabled us and our partners, Playwork Partnerships and SkillsActive to promote understanding about play within the professional sectors that plan, design, build and manage our community space.

There was increasing evidence that our landmark guidance documents were having a positive effect on the quality of play provision being developed around the country. Design for Play: A guide to creating successful play spaces won an award from the Landscape Institute for its innovative approach to rethinking outdoor space for children, and Managing Risk in Play Provision: Implementation guide continued to be hugely popular and influential. Both pieces of guidance offer innovative and practical approaches to encourage providers to think through the challenges in creating excellent play provision, and to sustain the commitments to prioritise play within planning frameworks.

The results of these combined efforts were outstanding. Local authorities delivered around 2,200 play areas at the time of writing and the approach to design and risk management changed significantly. Through Play Shaper we have seen many more non-play professionals understand the impact they have on children’s play.

Over this period of political change, Play England has been contracted by both the former and the new national government to work with local authorities, their partners and communities to ensure that the playbuilder and play pathfinder programmes are having the greatest impact for children around the country.

Working with national government

Our new Engaging Communities in Play programme aims to give local people in England the inspiration and resources to enable them to develop, manage and sustain the places where their children play; positioning play provision at the heart of the new government’s vision for a Big Society.

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Play England launched its manifesto campaign in early 2010 to ensure play was part of the debates during the general election and following the change of government. With over 1,500 signatories including individuals, organisations and MPs, the manifesto sets out three clear

‘asks’ for how to improve play opportunities for children in England. Our pre-election survey, where 83 per cent of adults said they expect this government to support children’s play in its policies, sent a clear message to the parties about the importance of this issue to voters.

One of Play England’s main objectives – and a key to our success – is ensuring that our messages are understood and recognised by a wide audience. Through our campaigning, news, publications, media and marketing, Play England has ensured that children’s play and its importance is a tough topic to ignore.

Raising the profile of play

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The annual Playday campaign continues to grow, helping to raise the profile of play in national media and within local communities. The number of Playday events continues to increase annually; reaching over 850 in 2010 and helping around three quarters of a million children get out and celebrate their right to play. Children’s Minister Tim Loughton experienced the fun by attending his local event in Worthing. Research on the themes of play and widespread media coverage has increased understanding of the barriers to children’s play and the possible solutions. Additionally, partnerships with Disney Interactive Studios and the British Toy and Hobby Association in 2010 helped increase Playday’s reach.

With a further 11 publications added this year, Play England’s informative and engaging catalogue of over 70 publications remains hugely popular and is an invaluable asset for a range of stakeholders wishing to incorporate the latest play guidance and evidence into their work. Our monthly email newsletter, with over 3,000 subscribers, and PlayToday, our quarterly play sector magazine with a circulation of over 8,400 – have ensured the play sector’s access to topical news, lively debates and ideas on good practice.

As well as maintaining a high profile in the media, Play England has embraced digital tools to further our messages. The new Play England website enables greater engagement with our work and includes a number of films which bring to life the challenges and opportunities faced by children in their play. By using social media such as Twitter, Play England has been sharing up-to-the-minute information on play and encouraging debate about the issues affecting play.

Our activities culminated in a major national conference in the spring where the former Secretary for Children, Ed Balls, publicly endorsed our Manifesto for Children’s Play and spoke eloquently about the importance of play opportunities.

This work has brought play to the forefront of discussions in all areas from political spheres to mothers catching up over a coffee to discuss how to ensure a happy childhood through play.

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Making the case for play

Over the last year, Play England has created forums for strategic debate and published a wide range of research that yet again emphasises the importance of children’s play and recreation – for themselves, their families and their communities.

The research to support the Playday 2009 campaign clearly demonstrated children’s need and demand for time to play, and that parents wanted more time to play with their children. The 2010 Playday research explored play as part of the community. The results showed a community confused by how children should play. There has been a dramatic generational drop in children playing outside, and despite overwhelming evidence demonstrating that communities benefit from such activity, many were too worried to let this happen. This evidence will play an important role in making the case for change.

Play England published People make play: the impact of staffed play provision on children, families and communities, in spring 2010. Commissioned by the think-tank DEMOS, the research provides clear evidence of the benefits of investing in staffed play provision, particularly in more deprived neighbourhoods. Speaking at the launch of the publication, the now Children’s Minister, Tim Loughton referred to staffed play provision as ‘the best kind of early intervention’, in particular because of its long term impact on anti-social behaviour.

Our 2009 publication, Better Places to Play through Planning, gives clear and unprecedented guidance about navigating the planning process to develop excellent play spaces. We also developed Embedding the Play Strategy for government to publish, and whilst this may be grounded in the previous government’s policies, it also contains extensive research and information about how local groups can make the links between play and other agendas such as health, housing, education and regeneration.

In addition to convening play policy groups on a range of issues, Play England hosted a four-nations play symposium which brought

together leading representatives from play and related sectors with politicians, academics and practitioners from across the UK. The symposium generated a dynamic debate about how to move the play agenda forward.

The change of government engendered significant policy changes for Play England – and the play sector – to respond and adapt to. Play England’s policy work has focused on establishing what the new political landscape means for us, our members and the wider sector, while also influencing the new agenda to consider children’s play needs by issuing policy responses and briefing new ministers and MPs.

Building on the manifesto campaign, Play England attended all three of the autumn party conferences to keep play on the political agenda in the run up to the Comprehensive Spending Review. Councillors from across the UK attended Play Shaper-style training events and aired their concerns about the state of children’s play opportunities in their local areas. They left the sessions with confidence to champion play locally and with the knowledge that our resources are there to help them.

Play England will continue to champion the rights of children and young people to play and recreation, influence policy at national and local levels, and empower our members and the wider sector to get involved.

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Community-run adventure playgrounds grants programme

A £1 million grant programme helped community-run adventure playgrounds to transform their play areas. The programme, funded by the former Department for Children, Schools and Families and managed by Play England, ran from April 2009 to March 2010. Nearly 60 adventure playgrounds received up to £19,000 each to update and improve their playground structures and features.

A key factor in the success of the programme was that the community groups could tailor spending on their adventure playgrounds according to their local circumstances and specific needs.

When asked about the impact of the grant programme, the community groups reported that the numbers of new children using the playground had increased significantly and existing users stayed longer or attended on more days. They also said that local residents and businesses helped out and that there was a clear impact on parents’ perceptions of playgrounds as being more exciting, challenging and safe. Several said that the playgrounds are now better known within their communities, for example among new residents who made friends through their children’s shared use of the sites. Others reported that more local residents had joined their management committees or volunteered in other ways.

Play England provided a range of dedicated support and resources for play providers in both the local authority and voluntary sectors, to help improve standards of play opportunities for children across the country.

Supporting play providers

Play pathfinder adventure playgrounds

Play England supported local authorities to build a total of 30 brand new adventure playgrounds or play parks, while another four had major refurbishments to their buildings or outside play areas.

The support included advice on design briefs, providing local authorities and communities with successful examples of existing adventure playgrounds and running seminars to share ideas and learning.

The indications are that children and families love the playgrounds, with Kilburn Grange in Camden being used by over 300 children a day and The Witts in Blackburn seeing greatly increased use of the park by children and families.

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Our future

In May, the Play England Council adopted a new strategic plan setting out our aims and aspirations for children’s play over the next five years as we attempt to consolidate and build upon the huge gains of the last five.

Our aims for the next five years are that:

•Localplanningandservicesfullyenableandsupport children’s play

•Children’splayissupportedandenabledwithinschools, childcare, early education and youth provision

•Localcommunitieschampionandenableplayprovision and playable public space

•Parentsandthewidercommunityrecognisethe value of play and support children to be able to play

•Childrenfromallgroupsandbackgroundsaccess free, local and inclusive play opportunities

•Playprovisionpromotesandenableschildrento engage with nature

•Playprovisionisstaffedbyaskilled,qualifiedand dynamic workforce

•Staffedplayprovisionhasastandardsframework based on recognised good practice

•Thereisarobustevidencebaseofthevalueand impact of play provision

These strategic aims were identified through an extensive consultation with members, colleagues and allies, as those most essential to the realisation of our vision for play in England. (see page 4). Keen eyes will recognise this vision as similar to that of the previous government’s Play Strategy and it is true that over the last three years we found common cause with a government committed to making England the best place in the world for children to grow up, with the enjoyment of childhood finally taking centre stage in national policy.

With the change of government in May, there are concerns in the sector about how much, if any, of this commitment will be retained. The early signs were not promising with the playbuilder programme, and our own contract becoming early casualties of the Coalition’s deficit reduction strategy. Nevertheless, in June the Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg announced a ministerial taskforce which would look at children’s play as part of a review of children and families’ policy aiming to ‘protect our children’s future, and rediscover childhood’.

Our new Engaging Communities in Play programme (see page 5) is designed to help the government achieve this. With the spending review biting deeply into all children’s services other than schools, it remains to be seen whether this will merely be the tail-end of the Play Strategy or the beginning of a new, albeit streamlined, national play policy.

Whatever may emerge in policy terms, Play England, as the independent national play champion, will be seeking to attract a wide range of resources to continue our mission to ensure all England’s children enjoy their right to play.

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From playwork professionals to local authorities and after school clubs to universities, organisations and individuals from all over England have joined a growing number who share the values outlined in the Charter for Children’s Play. All members endorse the charter upon application and are vital to establishing Play England as a strong and representative voice for children and the play sector.

Members meet at the Play England Council to network, hear the latest in play and share their views on new and emerging priorities for the play sector. Over 130 delegates attended the annual members meeting in November 2009 and through a series of interactive workshops played a crucial role in shaping Play England’s emerging new strategic priorities. Members adopted the new strategic plan in February 2010.

Members regularly contribute to forming Play England’s policy responses to government and inform Play England of the practising play sector.

Play England’s nearly 250 members provide an excellent foundation to consult with the sector and ensure representation of its views.

Membership

The role of the Strategic Advisory Board

A board of elected and co-opted members, known as the Strategic Advisory Board, advises Play England on its programme and strategic direction. Play England is managed by the NCB board of trustee’s governance structure. Representatives from the three other nations observe major meetings and forums that the Play England Council convenes.

Strategic Advisory Board (As at 1 October 2010)

Elected membersSandra Melville, Chair of the Play England Council Robin Sutcliffe, Yorkshire Play, Vice-chair of the Play England Council Karen Benjamin, Playwork Partnerships Dr Keith Cranwell, Playwork London Tim Ferguson, Manchester Young Lives Michael Follett, South Gloucester Council Julie Hathaway, KIDS Chris Martin, SkillsActive Julie Mattocks-Cawood, Bradford Metropolitan District Council Ute Navidi, London Play Tanny Stobart, Torbay Play Forum Andy Grout, Milton Keynes Play Association Paul Ennals, NCB (ex officio)

Co-opted membersSarah Grand, Play Association Network - London Deborah Holt, Association of Play Industries Mark Gladwin, Bradford Council

ObserversPlay Scotland – Sharon Forrester Play Wales – Mike Greenaway and Gill Evans PlayBoard Northern Ireland – Jacqueline O’Loughlin

For a list of current full members, please go to: www.playengland.org.uk/members

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Finance and funding

Statement of financial activities for the year ended 31 March 2010

Restricted funds

Unrestricted & pension funds

2009/10 2008/09

Notes £ £ £ £

INCOMING RESOURCESMembership subscriptions and donationsProject grants - Government departmentsProject grants - OtherDonationDCSFOther income

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17,724 1,253,307 2,891,268

1,000

-

----

2,491,29589,681

17,724 1,253,307 2,891,268

1,000 2,491,295

89,681

16,532 149,500

2,986,15970,000

855,02570,600

Total incoming resources 4,163,299 2,580,976 6,744,275 4,147,816

RESOURCES EXPENDEDDirect charitable expenditureProjects and units 3 4,078,354 2,581,970 6,660,324 4,210,208

NET INCOMING (OUTGOING) RESOURCESFUNDED BY NCBFUNDS BROUGHT FORWARD

84,945 -

6,806

(994) 994

-

83,951994

6,806

(62,392)64,1985,000

FUNDS CARRIED FORWARD 91,751 - 91,751 6,806

Funds held as :Current assets

91,751

6,806

91,751 6,806

Notes to Statement of Financial Activities for the year ended 31 March 2010

1. Preparation of Statement of Financial Activities The unaudited Statement of Financial Activities has been prepared from the accounting records of the National Children’s Bureau under the historical cost convention in accordance with the Statement of Recommended Practice (SORP 2005) for Accounting by Charities.

2. Incoming Resources - Grants receiveable 2009/10 2008/09

£ £

Big LotteryDepartment for EducationDepartment for Culture Media and SportDepartment of HealthDepartment of Health W Midlands

Play England Adventure Playground grantsPolicy and Research Health & PlayFoster Play projects

2,891,2681,072,607108,000

52,70020,000

2,986,159-

149,500--

4,144,575 3,135,659

3. Resources Expended 2008/09 2007/06£ £

Staff (including FRS17 pension charge)Other expensesAccommodation and support services

2,295,2513,877,580

487,493

1,795,5181,927,484

487,206

6,660,324 4,210,208

Staff team

Directors officeAdrian Voce Catherine Prisk Dave Taylor

Business Development and SupportUte Meyer zu HollenNicola WilsonPatricia ThomasMarcus CampbellSasha SencierKarim ManziTracy WoodwardDave LiddleLee-Anne Robinson

PolicySally Cole Andrew Mackie

FundraisingRob Hardy

CommunicationsBecky McLauchlan Ken Ryan Richard Newson Susan Pape Ingrid Duffin Clare Quarrell Ziggy Rokita

CampaignsAmy Little Claire Colvine

ResearchStephen Close Neil Coleman Josie Gleave

Programme Development and DeliverySteven Chown Stephanie Young Mick Conway Laky Sahota Amy Davies Angelique Brorsson Sue Coates

Annie Hunter-Wade Ashley Rogers Dave March Ingrid Wilkinson Jane Hembrow Jude Anderson Judith Carrie Lara Burnett Louisa Kelly Mark Lister Janet Orrock Richard Gott Sarah Wills Simon Brooks

Thank you for our following colleagues who worked with us this past year: Anna Doyle, Abi Perkins, Diane Hardiman, Richard Pinchbeck, Paul Rice, Yvonne Bacon, Claire Townsend, Suzanne Hoare, Catherine Lissaman, Paul

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Durr, Richard Joslin, Adrian Calvo-Valderrama, Sabrina Donaldson, Rosanna Coppen, Michele Deans, Fiona Stacey, Anna Nelson, Lynne Powell, Jessica Stackhouse, Lynette Robertson, John Hale, Ben Ward, Carolyn Port, Laura Marshall, Jennifer Daly, George Turvey, Catherine Ross, and Rachel Moore.

NCB StaffPlay England contributes funding to the Children’s Play information Service (CPIS) and the NCB media team to enable them to respond to the increased activity generated by Play England’s work.

CPIS – Anna Kassman-Mckerrell, Michael Welsh

Play England 8 Wakley Street, London, EC1V 7QE tel 020 7843 6300fax 020 7843 6349email playengland@ncb.org.ukweb www.playengland.org.uk

NCB 8 Wakley Street, London, EC1V 7QE tel 020 7843 6000fax 020 7278 9512web www.ncb.org.uk

Published for Play England by NCB

November 2010

Play England is part of NCB and is supported by the Big Lottery Fund. www.playengland.org.uk