Decision details

Summer of Play is a national campaign to give children the space, time, and freedom to play this summer as the Covid-19 restrictions are eased.

The organisers of the campaign are calling on organisations to sign the pledge to support children’s play this summer in recognition of everything children have been through over the last year.

https://www.summerofplay.co.uk/

The pledge covers three areas:

• Fun - To support children to have fun and express themselves through play.
• Friends - To support children to have opportunities to play with friends and peers.
• Freedom - To support children to have space, time, and opportunities for free play.

It feels important for Cheltenham Borough Council to sign the pledge in recognition of the council’s over-arching commitments to No Child Left Behind and to our Heads up campaign about promoting wellbeing.

Alongside encouraging children to play more over the summer, the council will also extend the focus of our summer of play to include adults as well as children as there are clear benefits for everyone to have a bit of fun and this then makes it more inclusive for people.

In terms of how we might support the summer of play campaign include the following:

• Promoting the use of our parks, play areas and green open spaces for play
• Planning and promoting a programme called Move More Miles. Through Heads Up Cheltenham, we are promoting a scheme that will encourage families to get physically active over the summer, either though walking, cycling or running.
• Promoting play activities (eg summer clubs, community events ) happening throughout the borough via our NCLB website
• Promoting our holiday activity and food (HAF) programme – this programme will involve 10 providers delivering a range of activities over the summer holiday with a focus on supporting children on free school meals.  

None.

With the No Child Left Behind steering group and the Heads Up Cheltenham steering group. Both steering groups have supported the idea that Cheltenham Borough Council signs up to the summer of play.