Call for Leeds to come out and play for global day of family fun

Applications are open until May 16 for communities to register to close their roads and host family fun on their doorsteps for the global awareness day to celebrate the power of play.

Hosting a play street is completely free and offers the chance for neighbours to come together in an open and safe space to allow all children and families to ‘play out’.

Leeds City Council has an award-winning play streets scheme which first began over a decade ago and last year alone saw 78 play streets across the city, totalling over 300 hours of play.

The scheme is co-ordinated by the Child Friendly Leeds team - which works towards the ambition of making Leeds the best UK city for children and young people to grow up in – in partnership with the highways department.

Leeds has been ahead of the curve when it comes to play – with the council becoming the first in England to complete a ‘play sufficiency assessment’ in 2023, creating an action plan optimising play opportunities for children and young people.

A list of priorities developed with children and young people led to the Child Friendly Leeds 12 Wishes’ – with ‘Wish Two’ to ensure that children ‘have safe spaces to play, hang out and have fun’.

International Day of Play began last year when the United Nations declared the awareness day would take place annually on June 11, to showcase how central play is to every child’s development.

To mark this year’s event, Leeds City Council is hoping many streets across the city will join in the celebration and is urging people to register now before the May 16 deadline.

To apply, simply gather support from neighbours to ensure there are enough adults to supervise on the day, then email play.streets@leeds.gov.uk with the street name to check eligibility.

Successful applicants will receive advice from the authority about which part of the street is safe to close and will be supplied with a road closure notice and ‘road closed’ stickers to display on wheelie bins.

Councillor Helen Hayden, Leeds City Council’s executive member for children and families, said: “As the Play Champion for Leeds, I’m really looking forward to seeing as many streets as possible come alive with play for this global awareness day.

“Play is vitally important to a child’s wellbeing and Leeds has been proudly leading the way on this for a number of years, helping to inspire playfulness in our neighbourhoods and ensure our city’s children get the best start in life.

“Let’s celebrate the power of play and take the opportunity for all – young and old – to get outside and have fun right on our doorsteps.”

For more information, view the play streets toolkit on the Child Friendly Leeds website.

Any schools which would also like to support event can find suggestions on how to get involved on the Leeds for Learning website, including access to free Child Friendly Leeds resources to support a playful curriculum for the day.

Other ways to celebrate International Day of Play in Leeds could include visiting a local park or green space or one of the mini playboxes in the city’s libraries and community hubs.

ENDS

For media enquiries please contact:

Leeds City Council communications and marketing,

Email: communicationsteam@leeds.gov.uk

Tel: 0113 378 6007