MAKE TIME FOR PLAYDAY 2009

22 December 2008

Play England is delighted to announce that the theme for the 2009 campaign is Make time!

Playday, the annual celebration of children’s right to play, takes place next year on Wednesday 5 August 2009, and the theme - Make time! is asking everyone to make time for play. From parents, to people who work with children, policy makers, planners, teachers, and more – it’s everyone’s responsibility to make time to see how they can help promote children’s play.

Amy Little, of Play England, who coordinates the campaign said: ‘In our busy and overscheduled lives it’s easy to prioritise other things over play, and to think, play is something children just do. However, children’s time and space to play is decreasing. The Playday 2009: Make time! campaign is calling on everyone to make time to think about what they can do to ensure children can play.’

Hundreds of fantastic events will be taking place across the UK to celebrate Playday 2009, from small-scale neighbourhood get-togethers to large-scale public events organised by local authorities and national organisations. Play England will be releasing specially commissioned research on this year’s Make time! theme.

Playday 2008 was a huge success, with over 550 registered events celebrating nationwide and more than a quarter of a million children attending. The campaign attracted wide-ranging support from cross-government and national organisations. Research commissioned to support the campaign secured high profile UK and international television, radio and press coverage.

For advice on how to organise a Playday event, and information on other ways to get involved in the campaign, visit www.playday.org.uk

 

Notes for editors:

  1. For more information about Playday and the Make time! campaign, visit www.playday.org.uk.  
  2. Playday is coordinated by Play England, part at the National Children’s Bureau, working in partnership with PlayBoard Northern Ireland, Play Scotland and Play Wales. The national campaign involves thousands of children and young people getting out to play at locally organised events. Playday events range from small-scale neighbourhood get-togethers to large-scale public events organised by local authorities and national organisations.
  3. Play England promotes excellent free play opportunities for all children and young people. Play England provides advice and support to promote good practice, and works to ensure that the importance of play is recognised by policy makers, planners and the public. Play England is part of NCB and is funded by the Big Lottery Fund. For further information visit www.playengland.org.uk.
  4. NCB’s mission is to advance the well-being of all children and young people across every aspect of their lives.  As a membership and infrastructure support agency for the children’s sector in England and Northern Ireland, NCB provides essential information on policy, research and best practice for our members and the members of our wide range of partnership bodies which operate under our charitable status and are based in our London headquarters. For further information visit www.ncb.org.uk.
  5. Opportunities are available for commercial and non-commercial partnerships for the Playday 2009 campaign. Contact Amy Little, at Play England for further details on 020 7843 6345 or via email.

For further information on this release contact:

Clare Quarrell, Aoife Allen, Clare Lilley - NCB Media Office

Tel: 020 7843 6044/6063/6047/07721 097033 Email: media@ncb.org.uk