Interview: A sense of adventure
Ben Cook
Tuesday, July 29, 2008
- Adrian Voce, director, Play England Adventurous play is the name of the game for this year's Playday on 6 August, co-ordinated by Play England. With this theme in mind, director Adrian Voce says children's services departments keen to provide exciting play opportunities should consult the organisation.
"Commissioning authorities can look at our design guide for good outdoor play areas. We will also be publishing, with the government, a guide to risk management," he says.
Risk is central to the theme of adventurous play. "We need to encourage children to take risks - it's important we don't err on the side of absolute safety," explains Voce. However, he believes a number of factors prevent children from playing adventurously.
"Parents have concerns about traffic, stranger danger and a lack of play area supervision. There is a perception that the outdoor world is not safe," he says. Voce argues this concern is often "overstated".
Fear of being sued can also be a restriction on children's freedom to play. "Another issue is local authorities' reaction to the risk of litigation," he says, adding that councils should "defend their right to offer challenging play areas". It is with this in mind that Play England will publish its risk management guide later this year. "It's inevitable that children will fall - it's part of growing up," he says.
This is Playday's 21st year and it is expected to be the biggest yet. Up to 150,000 children and young people are expected to take part in 400 events around the country, compared with an estimated 100,000 children and 300 events last year. The first ever Playday in 1987 consisted of a couple of events in Hackney, according to Voce.
This year, Playday is being sponsored by the laundry detergent brand Persil, which has helped raise the event's publicity to new heights. "The profile is much greater - there is a Persil TV advert promoting children's right to play," Voce says. However, he denies the brand has had any say in the development of this year's event. "We agreed with them on the broad scope, but they couldn't dictate terms on themes."
To coincide with Playday, Play England will publish research exploring the benefits and challenges of enabling children to manage their own risk while playing. Voce says: "A literature review collating research relating to the theme will also be published, along with national opinion polls of both children and adults."
According to Voce, planning rules can have a big impact on children's play opportunities. He urges planning departments to factor principles that make a space good for play into their proposals. "Children need access to the outdoor world - they have always played freely in the space around their homes. Street play is important."
He also says routes to play areas need to be safe for children, while green spaces must be "socially safe" - that is, children and their parents must know they are not going to be bullied in the play area and that there will be "no menace from gangs of older people".
When creating play spaces for children, Voce says councils should avoid thinking about "stereotypical play areas" and focus on more than just equipment. "Children need space first and equipment second. What is the street like? What is the park like? Creating a space is about landscape and architecture."
Voce adds he would like to see play workers awarded professional status, but recognises recruiting play workers is difficult because of a lack of available training. "The aspiration is for play workers to be given professional status - there are poor pay scales and there needs to be a competitive career structure."
BACKGROUND ABOUT PLAYDAY
- Playday is a national initiative in which thousands of children and young people go out and play at locally organised events. This year's Playday will be on 6 August
- The events range from small residents-only street parties to large public events organised by local authorities or housing associations
- Playday is organised by Play England, in partnership with Play Scotland, Play Wales and PlayBoard Northern Ireland
- One of the key campaign messages of Playday 2008 is that "all children need opportunities to take their own risks when playing; they need and want challenge, excitement and uncertainty in play".