HomepageNews and eventsSouth West kids get £1.7 m pay-out to play out South West kids get £1.7 m pay-out to play out Tweet Print Area:South West EnglandProgramme:Childrens PlayPlayful IdeasRelease date:20 2 2007 The Big Lottery Fund is putting the fun factor on the agenda with a wave of grants for new projects that develop, design and deliver a creative approach to play. The South West is gearing up to get playful with a pot of cash totalling £1,713,564 for children’s play services and projects across the region.This cash forms a slice of an overall commitment, by the Big Lottery Fund, of £155 million to support children’s play in England. An award winning team of Play Rangers can look forward to developing and expanding their scope with the news of a £296,875 grant being secured by Bath and North East Somerset Council. The Rangers, who work in open parkland all through the year, will give children the opportunity to play safely, creatively and freely in open spaces. The grant will also offer the Council the chance to fund, for the first time, open access play for children exclusively over 12 years – this is something children had fedback in consultation. The grant will increase opportunities for open access play in rural areas where children have some of the greatest restrictions in accessing play. In the Council’s consultation with young people, a child who was not allowed to play in the local parks, said: “My mum says strangers might get me as they are full of weirdos.” Sara Willis, Early Years Childcare & Play Team Leader, said:”This grant gives the Council the opportunity to re-state, both through the play strategy and through the increase in funding, its commitment to offering children high quality play experiences with qualified staff who understand their needs. We are absolutely delighted that BIG will now give us a chance to further expand free play opportunities, particularly to those children in greatest need and with the least access.” Gloucester City Council know all too well the importance of Play Rangers in engaging and empowering children: “Before the Play Rangers came down, there was nothing to do, and people just, like, vandalised stuff and things. And, now they're down here, well, people have got stuff to do. So it's a lot better," said a playful young person in Gloucester. The Council will utilise part of a £273,000 grant to create new teams of Community Play Rangers working in parks and open spaces. Expanding the Play Ranger scheme to ten priority play areas in the city is a key element of Gloucester's play strategy, bringing parks and play spaces to life for children in half terms and holidays, and ensuring that all children feel safe, included and welcome to play. Francis Gobey, Community Strategy Manager, said: “The past three years have already seen several big improvements around Gloucester, with playgrounds being revamped, parks redesigned, multi-sports areas and shelters introduced, and the pioneering play ranger scheme started in the inner city. Big Lottery funding will help this improvement continue, building one major and six smaller new play facilities in Gloucester's neighbourhoods.” Other local authorities picking up grants for children’s play projects: Torbay Council will use £293,873 to implement eight projects, including play sessions in natural spaces, better play provision in deprived wards and the development of teenage facilities; a grant to the tune of £230,183 will go to Teignbridge District Council for four projects, each focusing on different activities. The projects are designed to provide a number of direct play experiences while at the same time raising the profile for play, its value, and its impact on the lives of children. In today’s other funding news for the South West, grants are being awarded from the Fund’s £16 million Playful Ideas programme: part of the Big Lottery Fund’s £155 million commitment to support children’s play, the scheme aims to fund innovative projects with a creative and novel approach to play.One of the first to benefit is the Cornwall Neighbourhoods for Change project (CN4C), who will use £234,980 to ensure that rainy days will never be dull again - by buying play containers and equipment for local estates. The project will give children on estates the chance to play, with the added excitement of reinventing the wheel of play through local Swap Shops. A Play Development Worker will be recruited to help children swap their play equipment with neighbouring estates, making every play experience new and challenging. The money will also fund over 40 local people to participate in accredited play training courses to become play volunteers, finance out-of-school play activities and 72 open-air mobile play days. The project aims to work in partnership with outside agencies to develop the scheme across the county. Steve Clark, Head of Communities Department CN4C says, “The Open Air Swap Shop is an innovative idea based on consultation with communities and Play agencies. Not only will the Lottery funding provide access to play opportunities for children and young people living in some of the most disadvantaged areas in Cornwall, it will also contribute to the development and delivery of sustainable play throughout the County. Newborn babies will be bouncing with joy from the news of a £48,227 grant to the Devon Arts in Schools Initiative (DAISI) to work on an innovative play project in rural areas. DAISI will use artists to create play opportunities to engage the imaginations of 0-5 year olds in eight early years projects across Devon. Art materials, movement, sound, words and stories will be used to encourage early years children to use their senses to explore and experiment with the world around them. Liz Hill, DAISI Director, said: “A childhood chance to explore, experiment and discover alongside creative practitioners is the name of the game. This project is eagerly awaited in Devon following an initial DAISI pilot project in 2005/06 which showed strong evidence of the positive impact of artist interaction with under 5s across a range of learning and social outcomes.” Also, the Children’s Scrap Store have received £173,051 to provide a 'Pod' full of diverse materials that can stimulate and enhance children's play in the school playground. The project will run in Bristol, Bath, North East Somerset and South Gloucester. The Special Toys Educational Postal Service, pick up £163,375 to implement a play scheme for physically disabled children. It will purchase multifunction toys and set up a free loan scheme to provide them to disabled children throughout England. A library of multifunctional developmental toys will be developed in Devon, which will deliver the service to children across the UK by post. Mark Cotton, Big Lottery Fund Head of South West region, said: “Good play is an essential engine for improving children’s quality of life and wellbeing - we want our funding to be the spark that lights the fuse for more good play opportunities. It’s through play that children unravel the world around them; it allows them to explore new possibilities. These projects will, I hope, play a big role in the growth and intellectual development of the next generation.” For a full list of the 32 awards from the Children's Play programme, please click hereFor a full list of the 9 awards from the Playful Ideas programme, please click here Further Information Big Lottery Fund Press Office: 020 7211 1888Out of hours contact: 07867 500 572Public Enquiries Line: 08454 102030Textphone: 845 6021 659Full details of the Big Lottery Fund programmes and grant awards are available on the website: www.biglotteryfund.org.uk Notes to Editors The Big Lottery Funds rolls out close to £2 million in lottery good cause money every 24 hours which together with other Lottery distributors means that across the UK most people are within a few miles of a Lottery-funded project. The Big Lottery Fund, the largest of the National Lottery good cause distributors, has been rolling out grants to health, education, environment and charitable causes across the UK since its inception in June 2004. On 1 December 2006 the Big Lottery Fund was officially established by Parliament and at the same time assumed the residual responsibilities of the dissolved National Lottery Charities Board (Community Fund) the New Opportunities Fund, and the Millennium Commission. The Fund is building on the experience and best practice of the merged bodies to simplify funding in those areas where they overlap and to ensure Lottery funding provides the best possible value for money. In March 2006, the Big Lottery Fund awarded a grant to the Children’s Play Council, part of the National Children’s Bureau, to deliver the ‘Play England Project’. ‘Play England Project’ will provide a regionally based, sustainable and effective play support and development infrastructure for England. The Big Lottery Fund will support children’s play with £155 million through: the £124 million Children’s Play programme, with funds available to every local authority area in England; a separate £16 million Playful Ideas programme focussing on innovation; and a £15 million grant to the Children’s Play Council, part of the National Children’s Bureau, to fund England-wide development and support TagsBeneficiariesYoung people ThemesEducation, learning and skills Stronger communities Young People CategoryRegeneration
Area:South West EnglandProgramme:Childrens PlayPlayful IdeasRelease date:20 2 2007 The Big Lottery Fund is putting the fun factor on the agenda with a wave of grants for new projects that develop, design and deliver a creative approach to play. The South West is gearing up to get playful with a pot of cash totalling £1,713,564 for children’s play services and projects across the region.This cash forms a slice of an overall commitment, by the Big Lottery Fund, of £155 million to support children’s play in England. An award winning team of Play Rangers can look forward to developing and expanding their scope with the news of a £296,875 grant being secured by Bath and North East Somerset Council. The Rangers, who work in open parkland all through the year, will give children the opportunity to play safely, creatively and freely in open spaces. The grant will also offer the Council the chance to fund, for the first time, open access play for children exclusively over 12 years – this is something children had fedback in consultation. The grant will increase opportunities for open access play in rural areas where children have some of the greatest restrictions in accessing play. In the Council’s consultation with young people, a child who was not allowed to play in the local parks, said: “My mum says strangers might get me as they are full of weirdos.” Sara Willis, Early Years Childcare & Play Team Leader, said:”This grant gives the Council the opportunity to re-state, both through the play strategy and through the increase in funding, its commitment to offering children high quality play experiences with qualified staff who understand their needs. We are absolutely delighted that BIG will now give us a chance to further expand free play opportunities, particularly to those children in greatest need and with the least access.” Gloucester City Council know all too well the importance of Play Rangers in engaging and empowering children: “Before the Play Rangers came down, there was nothing to do, and people just, like, vandalised stuff and things. And, now they're down here, well, people have got stuff to do. So it's a lot better," said a playful young person in Gloucester. The Council will utilise part of a £273,000 grant to create new teams of Community Play Rangers working in parks and open spaces. Expanding the Play Ranger scheme to ten priority play areas in the city is a key element of Gloucester's play strategy, bringing parks and play spaces to life for children in half terms and holidays, and ensuring that all children feel safe, included and welcome to play. Francis Gobey, Community Strategy Manager, said: “The past three years have already seen several big improvements around Gloucester, with playgrounds being revamped, parks redesigned, multi-sports areas and shelters introduced, and the pioneering play ranger scheme started in the inner city. Big Lottery funding will help this improvement continue, building one major and six smaller new play facilities in Gloucester's neighbourhoods.” Other local authorities picking up grants for children’s play projects: Torbay Council will use £293,873 to implement eight projects, including play sessions in natural spaces, better play provision in deprived wards and the development of teenage facilities; a grant to the tune of £230,183 will go to Teignbridge District Council for four projects, each focusing on different activities. The projects are designed to provide a number of direct play experiences while at the same time raising the profile for play, its value, and its impact on the lives of children. In today’s other funding news for the South West, grants are being awarded from the Fund’s £16 million Playful Ideas programme: part of the Big Lottery Fund’s £155 million commitment to support children’s play, the scheme aims to fund innovative projects with a creative and novel approach to play.One of the first to benefit is the Cornwall Neighbourhoods for Change project (CN4C), who will use £234,980 to ensure that rainy days will never be dull again - by buying play containers and equipment for local estates. The project will give children on estates the chance to play, with the added excitement of reinventing the wheel of play through local Swap Shops. A Play Development Worker will be recruited to help children swap their play equipment with neighbouring estates, making every play experience new and challenging. The money will also fund over 40 local people to participate in accredited play training courses to become play volunteers, finance out-of-school play activities and 72 open-air mobile play days. The project aims to work in partnership with outside agencies to develop the scheme across the county. Steve Clark, Head of Communities Department CN4C says, “The Open Air Swap Shop is an innovative idea based on consultation with communities and Play agencies. Not only will the Lottery funding provide access to play opportunities for children and young people living in some of the most disadvantaged areas in Cornwall, it will also contribute to the development and delivery of sustainable play throughout the County. Newborn babies will be bouncing with joy from the news of a £48,227 grant to the Devon Arts in Schools Initiative (DAISI) to work on an innovative play project in rural areas. DAISI will use artists to create play opportunities to engage the imaginations of 0-5 year olds in eight early years projects across Devon. Art materials, movement, sound, words and stories will be used to encourage early years children to use their senses to explore and experiment with the world around them. Liz Hill, DAISI Director, said: “A childhood chance to explore, experiment and discover alongside creative practitioners is the name of the game. This project is eagerly awaited in Devon following an initial DAISI pilot project in 2005/06 which showed strong evidence of the positive impact of artist interaction with under 5s across a range of learning and social outcomes.” Also, the Children’s Scrap Store have received £173,051 to provide a 'Pod' full of diverse materials that can stimulate and enhance children's play in the school playground. The project will run in Bristol, Bath, North East Somerset and South Gloucester. The Special Toys Educational Postal Service, pick up £163,375 to implement a play scheme for physically disabled children. It will purchase multifunction toys and set up a free loan scheme to provide them to disabled children throughout England. A library of multifunctional developmental toys will be developed in Devon, which will deliver the service to children across the UK by post. Mark Cotton, Big Lottery Fund Head of South West region, said: “Good play is an essential engine for improving children’s quality of life and wellbeing - we want our funding to be the spark that lights the fuse for more good play opportunities. It’s through play that children unravel the world around them; it allows them to explore new possibilities. These projects will, I hope, play a big role in the growth and intellectual development of the next generation.” For a full list of the 32 awards from the Children's Play programme, please click hereFor a full list of the 9 awards from the Playful Ideas programme, please click here Further Information Big Lottery Fund Press Office: 020 7211 1888Out of hours contact: 07867 500 572Public Enquiries Line: 08454 102030Textphone: 845 6021 659Full details of the Big Lottery Fund programmes and grant awards are available on the website: www.biglotteryfund.org.uk Notes to Editors The Big Lottery Funds rolls out close to £2 million in lottery good cause money every 24 hours which together with other Lottery distributors means that across the UK most people are within a few miles of a Lottery-funded project. The Big Lottery Fund, the largest of the National Lottery good cause distributors, has been rolling out grants to health, education, environment and charitable causes across the UK since its inception in June 2004. On 1 December 2006 the Big Lottery Fund was officially established by Parliament and at the same time assumed the residual responsibilities of the dissolved National Lottery Charities Board (Community Fund) the New Opportunities Fund, and the Millennium Commission. The Fund is building on the experience and best practice of the merged bodies to simplify funding in those areas where they overlap and to ensure Lottery funding provides the best possible value for money. In March 2006, the Big Lottery Fund awarded a grant to the Children’s Play Council, part of the National Children’s Bureau, to deliver the ‘Play England Project’. ‘Play England Project’ will provide a regionally based, sustainable and effective play support and development infrastructure for England. The Big Lottery Fund will support children’s play with £155 million through: the £124 million Children’s Play programme, with funds available to every local authority area in England; a separate £16 million Playful Ideas programme focussing on innovation; and a £15 million grant to the Children’s Play Council, part of the National Children’s Bureau, to fund England-wide development and support TagsBeneficiariesYoung people ThemesEducation, learning and skills Stronger communities Young People CategoryRegeneration