Big Lottery Fund grant for play provision

The Royal Borough is this week celebrating a lottery grant of more than £200,000 to improve play provision across the borough.

The grant from the Big Lottery Fund announced this week follows the submission of the borough's first play strategy designed to enable young people in the borough to enjoy better facilities for constructive play.

The £233,324 grant will help to fund three projects across the borough:
· Leading the play way – providing a mobile play ranger service to enable children and young people in parishes and parks to benefit from free play opportunities. A play ranger co-ordinator and sessional play rangers are expected to be appointed before the summer holidays and will be funded for a period of two years.  They will be closely involved in the popular 13-19 summer holiday programme as well as working with the Get Active team in parishes and with the rangers at Braywick Nature Centre to broaden the range of activities and constructive play opportunities.
· School free play – to develop play before and after school and during lunch-times
by providing training and equipment to educate staff and children on a variety of activities for playtimes and lunch-hours.  The 50 schools in the borough taking part will also open their playgrounds at weekends to allow local children and young people to use the new play equipment.
· Parish free play – helping parishes to develop two new play areas in Old Windsor and Eton Wick to improve hard play facilities and provide new equipment.

Cllr Eileen Quick, lead member for children's services, said: "I am absolutely delighted with the news of the lottery grant. Some of the funding will be used to employ the play ranger co-ordinator and sessional play rangers whose main task will be to promote the importance of play and to ensure we can deliver the aims of our play strategy.

"They will be invaluable in helping to broaden out safe and constructive play opportunities to a wider young audience across the borough, and will hopefully reach out to some of the more disadvantaged children and young people in the borough."

Cllr Jesse Grey, lead member for leisure and culture, said: "This funding will make a huge difference to the parish councils – some of whom have wanted to improve their play facilities for some time.

"Our first play strategy had to be approved by the Big Lottery Fund before we could apply for the funding, and we are now in a position to be able to fulfil the vision of the strategy and deliver facilities and opportunities in places where they are most needed.

"The strategy also fits into the Every Child Matters initiative and its action plan is the first step to expanding on play provision in the borough in plenty of time for the school summer holidays ahead."

For further information about the lottery grant contact Linda Chandler, head of community and youth services on 01628 796315.