Children and young people have better access to play

The future of children’s play across the county is to receive a boost as Herefordshire Council and its partners launch a new touring bus scheme to improve access to play.

Herefordshire Council has worked with organisations in the public, private and voluntary sector to create a play partnership which represents the county’s 0-19 year olds.  At the heart of the play partnership is a strong belief and commitment to a child’s right to play and a belief that Herefordshire children and young people must be consulted and involved in the development of new projects.

Twenty-three percent of Herefordshire’s population are aged 0-19, and consultations have been taking place with children, families, childminders, children with special needs and young people over the last six months. 

The results indicate children want to see more nature-based and adventure play in safer environments, more and better outdoor play equipment and better facilities for older children, especially in the remote rural areas of the county.
 
As a result, MOBY, the new mobile children’s and young people’s resource bus will be launched at Hereford Leisure Centre, Holmer Road at 10.30am on March 5th and begin a tour of the county to raise the profile of play and work with local communities and young people.

MOBY’s play workers will provide exciting activities for 5-12 year olds from 4-5.30pm.  From 6-8pm the voluntary youth service will take over the bus and work with young people and the local community to explore ideas for future youth projects and support existing groups.

Councillor Don Rule, cabinet member for children and young people, said: “I have fond memories of playing outside with my friends when I was a child.    Children learn so much from playing, and they need to be able to explore the outside environment, make dens, climb trees and all the other things we remember doing when we were children.

“Unfortunately there are more hazards around nowadays to prevent children from playing outside, particularly traffic. We want our children to be able to play both in and out of doors, free from unacceptable risks.

“The team aboard MOBY will  help children and their communities learn how to play again by reintroducing some of the skills and ideas we seem to have forgotten about so that all children and young people are given time to discover, space to develop and freedom to have fun.”

The play partnership is developing a three-year plan for the county and hopes to apply for Big Lottery Funding for new projects later this year.