Play cuts time-bomb threat

Published: 17 February, 2011

• WE write from The Winchester Project, Three Acres Play Project, Plot 10 Community Play Project and Talacre Play Centre, voluntary sector play providers in Camden, to express our disappointment at and opposition to the extraordinary, shortsighted budgetary decisions being proposed by Camden Council. 

The proposed cuts to the play service are a disproportionate 65 per cent of the current budget, a decision that if ratified will have a profound impact on current and future generations and the fabric of society as a whole. We understand it will eradicate existing statutory provision and force a number of voluntary sites to close. This is entirely out of kilter with the 25 per cent cut handed down by the government. A 25 per cent cut would enable sites to survive by developing alternative income streams over the next 15 months, which could then be further developed. In fact, this would enable the survival of a universal play service in the borough rather than its destruction. 

We are concerned that, despite our pioneering, nationally-recognised, universal play service in Camden, this decision displays a lack of understanding about what play comprises and its benefits. Play is a provision which runs before- and after-school activities and school holiday provision for children. However, it is much more than this: it provides activities, food, shelter and support. It attends case meetings for vulnerable children, runs parent support groups and accepts referrals from social services and other agencies. It enables low-income families to work and prevents people from sliding into poverty. It is a service with a huge number of benefits, most of which are not appreciated or understood by the limited way in which play is assessed and judged.

The curriculum delivered by play providers across Camden is one which engages the social, physical, educational and creative needs of children. We run activities from arts to homework, cooking to football, road safety to sewing. We fill in the gaps inevitably missed by mainstream education, building self-esteem and offering opportunities which may otherwise leave children stranded. 

The cuts will decimate borough provision, lead to privatised centres which exclude low-income families and disadvantage families, undermining the development of children and create a social time-bomb in years to come, when our children feel that they owe nothing to a society which has abandoned them. The suggestion that centres should cater only for children with disabilities and labelled as vulnerable runs counter to the expertise of every child professional in the field: the best thing for development is diverse groups with mixed-income, mixed-race and mixed-ability make-ups. 

It is a well-intentioned but entirely incorrect idea that creating such exclusive centres would in any way help the most vulnerable.

All our children’s present, and future, is at stake. We hope you will join us in safeguarding them.

KIM MABBUTT, PAULETTE KING, 
EMMA WEINER, SALLY WARREN