Every three years, all councils are legally-required under Welsh law to work out how well they provide play opportunities to young people.
Yesterday, a Bridgend Council’s scrutiny committee discussed the next three-year play assessment (pdf).
This doesn’t just include playgrounds, but play, arts and cultural opportunities in schools as well as youth clubs and sports.
The Covid-19 pandemic had an impact, with up to 40% of young people in Bridgend saying they have been negatively impacted, with most “places and spaces” used by young people temporarily closed or changed.
However, new approaches adopted during the pandemic – such as moving to digital-only events and schemes targeted at care-experienced children and the disabled – were noted.
The play assessment’s main conclusions – which you can read in full here (pdf) – can be summarised as:
- Bridgend Council needs to recognise how play opportunities can help young people in the post-pandemic recovery period, ideally working with young people to develop them.
- Despite good progress, more needs to be done to provide opportunities to under-represented groups including care-experienced children, young carers, the disabled, LGBTQ+, traveller children and children living in rural areas.
- As part of the council’s programme of playground refurbishment, accessibility needs to be a key priority.
- Cost should be removed as a barrier to participation by young people, working with the likes of Halo Leisure and Awen Cultural Trust.
- The council should consider establishing a leadership group/directorate dedicated to play opportunities.
