A study assessing the impact of a £124m lottery-funded initiative to improve children's access to play has found early signs of success while highlighting problem areas for local authorities and delivery partners.
The Big Lottery Fund's Children's Play Programme aims to raise the profile of play and to create and improve free play areas across England. The three-year scheme, launched in 2007, has awarded grants ranging between £100,000 and £3m to local authorities for 1,400 projects enabling 'free, unstructured play'.
The final tranche of funding - 13 awards amounting to £3.6m - was rolled out late last month, bringing the total of local authority areas receiving funding to 351.
Announcing the awards, Sanjay Dighe, chair of the Big Lottery Fund's England committee, said, 'The Children's Play funding is providing essential new opportunities for young people, bringing play to life and improving their physical, emotional and social well-being.'
Each of the authorities awarded funding have, on average, four play projects, which are to be delivered by the authority itself, or by a third party organisation, such as a voluntary sector partner.
Risky Play
The findings of the first 12 months of a three-year evaluation were published last month by research consultancy ECOTEC. It surveyed programme managers and visited four case study play schemes (News, 20 August).
The study found that Children's Play is helping children to access more play than before, including different forms such as sensory play and 'risky' or adventurous play. Other positive outcomes included improved local authority attitudes towards play, better inter-departmental working and improved relations between local authorities and the voluntary sector and other agencies, including local health trusts.
However, local authorities found that the concept of free play, usually defined as the 'three frees' - free of charge, children free to come and go, and children free to choose what they do - was problematic. Not all activities could be offered completely free of charge. In addition, not everyone was able to benefit when play facilities were designed to be open and free to access. Some children, including those with disabilities, often needed more support.
Free play was described as a 'culture shock' by some authorities, used to a risk-averse approach, and to some parents, who felt that such an unstructured approach meant their children were not being properly cared for. Play programme managers, therefore, had to make a concerted effort to communicate the benefits of free play and build trust with stakeholders, play staff and families.
In Bradford, one of the case studies areas, where the local authority was awarded £1.43m for 15 projects, parents had concerns over the safety of a £140,000 adventure playground known as the Big Swing.
Here, children can build structures, play with packing crates and wood cut-offs, dig holes and build fires, while being supervised by qualified staff. Organisers worked hard to reassure the community of the benefits of the project via coffee mornings and open days, and it is now popular with local families.
Kevin Clark, support officer at Bradford early years and childcare service, says, 'Families did have some initial reservations about the Big Swing, but the playground is now three years old and has proved very popular with local families. There are four to five staff on the site at any one time who can help to reassure parents over any fears that they may have.'
Disadvantaged Areas
The study found many examples of play projects that are successfully engaging disadvantaged children - a key focus of the Children's Play Programme.
In Bradford, a holiday play scheme has been set up to cater for 10,000 children in rural areas. In Norwich, where the city council was awarded £360,000 of lottery funding, the play portfolio is running sessions at a mother and toddler group, based in a deprived area of the city and accessed by 20 to 40 children a week.
The council has also commissioned local charity Hamlets Centre to run a mobile toy library, which is open to all but targeted at disabled children.
Paul Nicholson, children and young people's play manager at Norwich city council, says, 'We see the mobile toy library as a way of improving accessibility by bringing play to children's doorstops.'
Disabilities
However, many authorities have struggled to engage children who have disabilities. Norwich found that some disabled children did not use play areas because they needed supervision that was not always available. The council is now looking at using alternative funding to deliver supervised play and make the facilities more accessible for all.
In Bradford, the holiday play scheme attracted 70 children with disabilities in the year to March 2009, against a target of 200. The authority found that parents of disabled children did not always want them to access mainstream play or open play facilities. It is now considering bringing in further partner organisations to help engage with families.
Kevin Clark says, 'For example, the Big Swing has an open access policy, but I remember one boy with Special Educational Needs who kept running away. However, staff couldn't close the gate, as it went against the whole ethos of the playground. Eventually staff were able to build the boy's confidence by having his carer stay on site until he was happy to play there without running away.'
The study found that most authorities were engaging or consulting with children and families when developing their play strategy, designing individual facilities or asking for feedback on facilities. They found the funding enabled them to carry out more consultations than usual with children and young people, resulting in provision that was led by local demand.
In Solihull, a group of children who helped to design play provision visited a play area in Wolverhampton to get ideas. Bradford consulted 1,000 children and young people, asking them their issues and priorities in play.
Mixed Welcome
Not all communities welcomed the new projects. Residents were often concerned about the potential for anti-social behaviour, and in some areas residents were not interested in taking any ownership of the new provision.
At Norwich, Paul Nicholson says, 'We did encounter a lot of NIMBY (not in my back yard) attitudes. However, I think that most people aren't anti-anything - they just need to be reassured over aspects like potential anti-social behaviour or vandalism.'
Adrian Voce, director of Play England, says, 'The best way to tackle NIMBY attitudes is to work with the community during the planning and development phase so that any problems are mediated and new developments are responsive to the needs and concerns of the community. However, local authorities should not be afraid to stand up for children's right to play. Children's voices are not easily heard, but they still have rights and needs.'
Almost half of the play programme leaders said that funding had helped them to secure extra funds from a range of sources, including Play Pathfinders, the DCSF and smaller-scale local funds and grants. Nevertheless, only half of the local authorities thought the play projects would be sustainable once Children's Play ends in 2010. One in five felt that the play infrastructure was unsustainable in its current form, and a quarter were unsure.
While most authorities had linked their strategy for play to others such as children and young people's plans and community strategies, only 15 per cent had linked their play strategy to transport. The report calls this a missed opportunity in ensuring access to the new facilities.
Sustainability
In Bradford, programme managers are now focusing on sustainability. Kevin Clarke says, 'The play schemes in Bradford have had a massive impact and we are in the process of putting reports together to show what has been achieved. These reports can then be used to try to secure funding from external agencies. We can't say whether the council will fund the play projects in the future, as there are obviously a lot of demands on its core budget.'
Paul Nicholson adds, 'Norwich council tried to promote the voluntary sector by giving them the funding to run the projects and to employ staff. Once the lottery funding comes to an end these voluntary organisations can try to access funding from different sources. The projects may have to change, but I think the way we have done things means there is more chance of the projects being sustainable than if the council had directly employed people.'
However, Adrian Voce argues that local authorities should provide at least some of the funding for the projects after 2010.
He says, 'Local authorities have choices to make and we would like to see them make play more of a priority. Providing things to do and places to go for children and young people is something that is extremely important to local communities. We would like to see council administrators, directors and councillors recognise that children's play is a perennial need that should be embedded in mainstream budgets.'
Further information: Download the study, Evaluation of Children's Play Programme, at www.biglotteryfund.org.uk/ecotec_eval_280509.pdf
