MEDIA Releases
Latest campaign media releases
2010
Play England hopes World Cup fever will mean
more ‘jumpers for goalposts’ and less ‘no ball games’
9 June 2010
The national play charity, Play
England has found that informal football games are among children’s
favourite play activities and is calling for government
and local areas to capitalise on the huge interest in this year’s
World Cup by giving as many children as possible the chance to put
down their jumpers for goalposts and to kick balls around with
their friends.
Results from over 1200 entries to this year’s
Playday drawing competition found that being outside is children’s
preferred way to play, with kickabout games a big favourite with
both boys and girls.
2009
Back to school blues? “Let us play more and we’ll
learn better”, say kids in new research
3 September 2009
As summer holidays come to an end this
week, Play England is calling on schools to protect
play-time and make more time for children to play during
the school day.
New research from Play England finds that time
to play at school is seen by both children and their parents as
very important if they are to get the most out of education. 90% of
parents and 79% of children agree that having time to play at
school helps children to concentrate in lessons. The report also
found that 88% of parents and 80% of children think that children
are better behaved in lessons if they are allowed to play at break
time, and this figure rises to 99% for parents of 5-6 year olds.
94% of parents assert that it is important to allocate time for
play during school hours.
Lack of play makes credit crunch kids unhappy and
naughty
4 August 2009
Parents and children are facing school
holiday woe this summer, as one in three say they can no longer
afford to take their children out to play. Parents are
concerned a lack of play makes children unhappy (86%) and naughty
(72%).
An ICM survey, released this week by Play
England for Playday 2009, questioned more than 1,000 adults and
children and confirmed that children feel unhappy (52%), bored
(77%) and miss their friends (68%) if they don’t have enough time
to play. The report also found that children’s behaviour suffers
through lack of play, with 72% of parents reporting that their
children are naughty and become angry (62%) when they don’t get
enough time to play.
72% of parents want more time to play with
their children
3 August 2009
Figures released today for Playday
2009 show that nearly three-quarters of parents (72%) want more
time to play with their children.
The ICM survey commissioned by Play England
found that more than half of parents (52%) feel that work, or other
unavoidable commitments, limit their time to support their children
to play. This pressure is intensified by the fact that half of
parents say there aren’t enough places where they live, for
children to play safely without an adult.
2008
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.
New figures for Playday 2008 reveal
children deprived of adventurous play
3 August 2008
Figures released today for Playday 2008 show that
children are facing serious restrictions to their opportunities for
adventurous play. An ICM survey commissioned by Play
England for Playday shows that half of children (51%) aged 7-12
years are not allowed to climb a tree without adult supervision and
half (49%) also report that they have been stopped from climbing
trees because it was considered to be too dangerous.
Playday 2008 unwraps the cotton wool from
children's play
4 July 2008
Playday is delighted to announce that the theme for the
2008 campaign is Give us a go!
2007
Latest figures show
dramatic reduction in children playing in their local
streets
30 July
Figures released today for Playday
2007 show that regularly playing outdoors near home is much less
common for today’s children than for previous generations.
An ICM survey commissioned by Play England for Playday shows that
71 per cent of adults played outside in the street or area close to
their homes every day when they were children, compared to only 21
per cent of children today.
Children across the UK get ready to
reclaim the streets for Playday 2007
23 July 2007
As the school holidays get under way,
neighbourhoods across the country are gearing up for this year’s
Playday, the annual celebration of children’s play, which
takes place on Wednesday 1 August.
Playday asks what’s in your
street?
13 June 2007
This year, Playday is asking children
across the UK what’s in your street? Send in your
photos, collages or drawings of what it’s like to play in your
neighbourhood or show what your ideal street for play would look
like.