We worked with Play England and the Department of Culture, Media and Sport on the development of Performance Indicators for Children’s Play, to provide a robust assessment of the extent to which local authorities are providing children and young people with good, inclusive and accessible free local play spaces, services and facilities. In addition, Ashley Godfrey was a member of the advisory group for the preparation of Planning for Play, the Play England guidance for the preparation of Play Strategies. We worked with and supported Haki Kapasi in the development of the Quality Assessment Tool for play, and with Bristol City Council to develop a play questionnaire for completion by children.

We also worked with Fields in Trust (the former NPFA) on the development of national benchmarks for different types of play space, to provide local authorities with a reliable point of reference when developing their own locally-determined provision standards.

We have undertaken focused consultation exercises with children and young people to support the development of Play Strategies, and have also undertaken detailed audits of provision for children and young people to assess the quality of existing provision and identify priorities for improvement in both quantity and quality. We have developed a comprehensive line of questioning to assess play quality against the Play England criteria, and have applied this in many local authority assessments.

Play projects we have undertaken include:

Play England -
Development of performance indicators for children’s play provision

Cabe Space –
Ashley Godfrey is a strategic enabler to support Children’s Play Programme

Erewash Borough Council -
Young People’s Consultation for the Play Strategy

London Borough of Haringey -
Audit of formal and informal play spaces for the Council’s Play Strategy, and development of child protection measures

Fields In Trust –
Review of the former NPFA’s Six Acre Standard

Nene Park Trust –
Consultation with children and parents about future play provision in Ferry Meadows Country Park, and preparation of a masterplan for a Play Trail in Ferry Meadows Country Park, Peterborough