Community play areas should remain open during the Covid-19 lockdown in the UK, argues the Association of Play Industries.
Its chairman, Mark Hardy, told a Play England seminar last week that leading bodies concerned with children’s play have joined together in a concerted effort to ensure that play areas remain open.
“It is hard to overstate the vital role that playgrounds have in children’s physical and mental health,” Hardy said.
“Playgrounds are the number one place that children play outdoors and without them children will experience the hardships of lockdowns much more acutely. One in eight UK households have no outside space and without public playgrounds these children would effectively be under house arrest.”
Play England CEO, Anita Grant, said: “We are aware that throughout the pandemic children have been massively impacted by the restrictions resulting from Covid-19. Our aim is to support government, local authorities and play providers to ensure that access to play opportunities remain a priority for us all.”
The seminar explored the best ways to ensure playgrounds stay open through the coming months. Professor of risk management at Middlesex University, David Ball, highlighted the balance of risks, concluding that the risks to children of not playing were far greater than the risks posed by Covid-19. Transmission from children to adults is proven to be small and the risk posed by children contracting the virus from surfaces is widely thought to be negligible.
Psychologist Dr Helen Dodd outlined the risks to children of not playing outdoors on their mental health, outlining how playgrounds offer huge benefits, particularly for the most disadvantaged. Research shows that children with mental health problems are twice as likely to have not played outdoors at all in the previous week.
The association comprises leading manufacturers, installers, designers and distributors of both outdoor and indoor play equipment and represents 85 per cent of the play industry in the UK.
