The Council and democracy Play Manifesto

Context

Play England defines Play as “what children and young people do when they follow their own ideas and interests, in their own way, and for their own reasons."1  Play provision in Manchester is accessed by children aged 5-13.

Manchester City Council understands that play is not only a fundamental right of children and young people, but that it also holds a key role in children’s physical and emotional development. With a dedicated Youth, Play and Participation Team, we aim to support youth and play providers in the city to deliver high quality provision to children and young people.

Children and young people who have wider access to play opportunities are less likely to experience issues such as childhood obesity and social isolation. In addition, better access to play opportunities will mitigate the potential impact and effects of various issues prevalent across Manchester. These include, but are not restricted to crime, financial instability and mental ill-health of parents/caregivers.

Our commitment to Manchester’s children and young people has been clear for many years. This was further highlighted with the launch and subsequent success of 2022 Our Year. Manchester will now seek to build on this and work to achieve “Child Friendly City” status, awarded by UNICEF UK.

As we embark on this ambitious journey, the development of a “Manifesto for Play” will enable us to identify areas of development and make commitments to work collaboratively to further improve the Play opportunities and provision across Manchester.

Legislative responsibility

As stated above, having access to play opportunities is a right of all children. Article 31 of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child states the following:

1. Parties recognize the right of the child to rest and leisure, to engage in play and recreational activities appropriate to the age of the child and to participate freely in cultural life and the arts.
2. Parties shall respect and promote the right of the child to participate fully in cultural and artistic life and shall encourage the provision of appropriate and equal opportunities for cultural, artistic, recreational and leisure activity.2

State of Play

Following consultation with local providers, the Youth, Play and Participation Team has been able to gain an understanding of existing provisions and spaces for Play within the City of Manchester. A recent mapping process received 71 responses from providers in Manchester. 9 of which are solely play provisions, whilst 62 offer both youth and play provisions for children and young people. We are aware that other providers exist in the city, these include libraries, cultural and arts organisations, Sure Start centres and faith groups amongst others. This shows there is a relatively strong offer of play provision which can be built upon and strengthened moving forward.

In addition to providers, Manchester is currently home to 114 'play areas' offering open access leisure activity across the city. These are spread across each of the city’s wards, placed within the wide range of parks and green spaces.

As part of this Manifesto, Manchester City Council and in particular, the Youth, Play and Participation team pledge the following:

1. Adequately funded play provision across the city, providing grants to organisations across the city in a fair, equitable and transparent way.
    
2. Developing a play offer which embeds robust safeguarding practices whilst acknowledging the long-standing premise of play involving an element of risk-taking. This will allow young people to take risks in a safe and supportive environment.
    
3. Address the “de-professionalisation” of play provision through effective workforce development of play workers. This will help to ensure a level of quality delivery and longevity within the sector.

4. A commitment to children’s voice through the development, coordination, and delivery of junior youth voice. This is reflective of Article 12 of UN Convention on the Rights of the Child centred around ensuring every child has the right to express their views, feelings and wishes in all matters affecting them, and to have their views considered and taken seriously.

5. Work closely with organisations within the youth and play sector to enhance good examples of play work and identify areas of development. This will be carried out via robust quality assurance frameworks to be implemented in future commissioning and grant making arrangements from 2023

6. Build on the successes of Manchester’s Holiday Activity Fund (HAF) and half-term provisions which has engaged many organisations offering open access provision for Children and Young People from the age of 5-16.

7. Ensure collaboration across city council and affiliated partners to build on existing good provision and develop areas of need. This will include the Youth, Play and Participation team working closely with:

• Parks – to ensure our open green spaces across the city are safe and accessible for children and young people, explore how play areas can be enhanced where require, embedding the voice of children and young people in the development of play areas.
• Education – work with our colleagues in Education to develop play opportunities during break and lunchtimes, across all school ages.
• Libraries – have sufficient resource and understanding for play
• SEND coordination – to ensure providers of play opportunities are accessible and able to adapt to the needs of all children and young people, regardless of their ability.
• Manchester Active – to ensure collaboration around plans for healthy play spaces and provision.

8. Working with youth and play providers to support families around their understanding of play and its importance. Nurturing a home environment in which children and young people, play with siblings and parents in a process of shared developmen