Reflections on launching our 50th ParkPlay – By Sean Longhurst

At ParkPlay we are on a mission. A mission to create healthier and happier communities across the UK through the life changing power of play.

We are doing that by partnering with amazing hyper-local individuals and community organisations, as they are the people who can bring about this change. Through their brilliant work in their communities, along with some inspiration and guidance from the central team here at ParkPlay and the commitment of Active Partnerships and Local Authorities we have reached our first milestone on that mission. 

We have launched ParkPlay in 50 locations across the country: from Treverbyn in Cornwall with Karen and James Edens and Treverbyn Community Hall; to Easington Colliery in County Durham with Kaye Stepheson and Easington Primary School.  From Harwich in Essex with Bridie Stanford and the Lighthouse Sport and Social Club to Ellenborough in Weston-Super-Mare with Kira Thorpe and team.

We are seeing the impact happening in communities that we have collectively set out to achieve, and now we are striving to replicate in thousands of places across the UK! 

Along with some of the brilliant people from ATF including Stuart Long and Stuart Martin as well as equally great people from Active Basildon and Sport England, Rick our CEO and one of our co-founders Matt Willcocks, I was at the very first ParkPlay. We were all there for ParkPlay #1 at Vange Primary School in Essex because of the hard work, wisdom and vision of all the people in that list along with so many others including: our Trustees, Liz Keeble, Prof. Jim Mckenna and our other co-founder Steve Mitchell.

And now, after 2.5 years, 50 ParkPlay locations, over 3000 individual ParkPlay events, welcoming over 100 people to be PlayLeaders for their community and playing with thousands and thousands of ParkPlayers, here is what I know…

What local people are doing with ParkPlay is reshaping the way communities come together

In a world where austerity, covid and a cost of living crisis have led to increased social isolation, lack of services and provision, the reduction in reasons and places for people to come together and inter-community trust breaking down in many areas.

However, because ParkPlay is being delivered in a hyper-local way, what we are seeing in places across the country is people using ParkPlay – in combination with other brilliant community initiatives – as a way of rebuilding the fabric of those communities and changing their places for the better. 

Collectively through ParkPlay, local people are galvanising the people and families around them, encouraging them to come together once again to reclaim their parks and public space – like in Northlands Park on Essex for example. They are reaffirming old relationships and building new ones like in Aspatria in Cumbria. They are creating new rhythms and staples in the collective community calendar like in Eversley in Basildon. They are providing brand new ‘third spaces’ that are not the home or the office, for people to spend quality time together as a community like in Southall Park in Greater London. And, they are changing individual attitudes towards and the collective consciousness of the places they live in and the people who live there.

All of this is happening through play, being active and coming together to develop a sense of community, together.

Ordinary people can do extraordinary things when they really care about their community and are supported

It is local people who love their communities, care for the people within them, embody the uniqueness of their community and are willing to step up and commit to doing right by their community that are the right people to lead a ParkPlay.

It is not someone’s ‘sporty-ness’ or their ability to run an effective physical activity session, or even their confidence in leading a group of those people. We can support them in that. What makes someone the ‘right’ person, is those who have the qualities above. 

And the ‘right’ people in communities are always there, they are always already doing things to ignite and activate the communities they love and our job is to get alongside them and go shoulder to shoulder with them to continue that work through ParkPlay. 

Creating a ‘welcoming environment’, building an ‘experience that delights’ and shaping a ‘sense of belonging’ are the magic ingredients.

Professor Jim told Matt, Rick and I this whilst standing in Brickfield Park in Leeds after a very wet ParkPlay. If all these three things are consistently present at a gathering of people, week on week, then there is no limit to the community spirit that can emerge.

Two years on from that day I see PlayLeaders up and down the country every Saturday, rain or shine welcoming everybody to their ParkPlays with a warm and personal greeting and throwing them a ball. They are playing games that surprise players and bring a smile to people’s faces with something new or something they haven’t played in years. And finally they give everyone the opportunity to build a sense of togetherness and like it is a place where people ‘just like me’ who are from ‘my place’ come to be and play together and ‘I feel safe here’ because ‘these people care about me’.

It is these things, delivered through brilliant PlayLeaders who love the people and places around them that are making the rebuilding of communities happen, week by week, ParkPlay by ParkPlay. 

If you’re reading this and thinking ‘that is something my community needs’ or ‘I work with communities that I can support set up a ParkPlay’ then get in touch! We want to welcome you to join our mission, bring ParkPlay to every community and empower local people like you to be the catalyst in your area who works with others to rebuild communities through play and being active.

Here is to the future of community building through play! 

Sean

Sean is ParkPlay Programme Director, making sure ParkPlay is as brilliant as possible.

If your interest has been piqued by the article then join our movement.

• If you work in local government, in public health, for an active partnership or any other body promoting health active lifestyles 
• If you would like ParkPlay to come to your community
• If you work for a business that would be interested in partnering with us 

Find out more about starting ParkPlay:

Find your local ParkPlay

Please visit our ParkPlay Parks page to find your local ParkPlay and come and join us for your ParkPlay session. We play every Saturday morning.