A new £155 million funding programme for children and young people’s play facilities in England was announced by the Big Lottery Fund last week.
Grants will be given to projects to improve and develop innovative facilities where children and young people can play free of charge.
The new programme will take its lead from recommendations made in Frank Dobson’s review of children’s play, published in January 2004.This stated that funding should be focused on areas with the poorest access to good quality play facilities and that there should be a major emphasis on providing inclusive activities that can be enjoyed by disabled children.
Adrian Voce, director of the Children’s Play Council, an alliance of organisations working to promote play, welcomed the money. “Hopefully this new stream of funding will give local authorities and their partners added incentive to plan for play strategically alongside other children’s services,” he said.
