August 2017
Lands cape & Am e ni t y
Putting the spotlight on the vibrant play industry
www.l a n d s c a p e a n d a m e nit y.c om
Government strategy for sport reports successful first year The All-Party Parliamentary Group for Sport has met for the first time since the General Election. Tracey Crouch MP, the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Sport and Civil Society, outlined the progress made since the Sporting Future strategy was launched one year ago. Mary Lubrano, FSPA Communications Manager, said: “Sporting Future is focussed on protecting and growing the sector so that everyone can benefit from the power of sport. “Of course, there are economic benefits but the strategy is also firmly committed to the physical and mental impact that sport can have, as well as its effect on social and community development.” Sporting Future has joined-up the sector so that it can work effectively to drive
up participation for everyone.
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sport
“Crouch explained that while elite sport certainly inspires participation we need also to future-proof the sector by making sport relevant to people as their habits evolve over coming years,” she added. “This means continually identifying groups who are disengaged and finding new and relevant ways of connecting with them.” The document has also changed the way participation is measured. “Crouch found that, by and large, young children’s participation in sport across the country was not being accurately reflected, and, with the amount of great work being done at grassroots level in children’s sport, this was hugely unfair. “So, Sporting Future sets out to assess precisely who is doing what to enable funding to be directed where it’s needed most. The work on getting
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more women into sport is a great example of how accurate assessment has driven the activities of the strategy. “But it was the government’s work on developing a governance code for NGBs which was, perhaps, the stand-out news story of the day. Crouch was able to
The number of children meeting the recommended amount of physical activity – that’s 60 minutes a day as recommended by PHE – drops by 40% between the ages of five to 12. And a new study by PHE and Disney reveals that the majority of 5-11 year-olds feel happier, more confident and more sociable when they’re active. “Tackling inactivity is a key part our Towards an Active Nation strategy, and we’re using National Lottery funding to support families and children to get active together,” said Mike Diaper, director of children and young people. The programme offers fun, 10-minute activities featuring their favourite Disney characters
as inspiration. Each activity can be done anywhere with small or large groups of friends. Just 23% of boys and 20% of girls meet the recommended level of activity. And one in five children starting primary school or overweight or obese. That rises to more than a third by the time they leave. The study, which looked into children’s wellbeing, also found: • •
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Nearly all children said they liked being active (93%) The main motivations for kids to be more active was having friends to join in (53%) and having more activities they liked to choose from (48%) Children’s overall happiness declines with age - 64% of 5 and 6-year-olds said they always feel happy, compared to just 48% of 11-year-olds 19% of children said they were less active due to a
“The strategy has been wellreceived since its launch and the MP thanked everyone in the
room for helping to implement it. Crouch added that it was her intention to grow the grassroots and encourage the elite because they are one and the same thing – both encouraging more participation and a more active nation.” FSPA
Enquiry 57
API membership appoint new executive committee
School’s out for shake ups Sport England is working with Disney and Public Health England (PHE) to get children between the ages of five and 12 active over the summer holidays.
report excellent progress on this, saying that the UK will set the gold standard for governance across the world. A press release will be issued next week by the department with further details.
lack of sports or activities they enjoyed. A number of Team GB athletes are supporting the campaign – including Olympic swimmer Keri-anne Payne. She says: “Physical activity has always been an important part of my life, as I started swimming from a very young age. But being active is not just for Olympians, it’s for everyone. “The 10 Minute Shake Ups provide a load of fun activities to get kids moving more. Anyone can try them and they are a great way for kids, their friends and the whole family to get moving throughout the summer.” Sport England
Enquiry 58
The Association of Play Industries (API) held its Annual General Meeting and appointed seven Executive Officers. Three new candidates were appointed for a two-year period - Steve Sylvester, MD Kompan UK, Mark Wood, MD of Playforce Ltd and Bill Worthington, General Manager Abacus Playgrounds. Rob Baker, MD of Proludic, Mark Grace, MD HAGS SMP; Helen Jones, MD of RTC Safety Surfaces; Andrew Sparrow, MD of Fenland Leisure and Charlie Howard, MD Wicksteed Playgrounds have also been elected for a further two-year tenure. API Chair Mark Hardy says: “Our Executive Committee is a team of passionately committed play
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industry experts who dedicate their time and efforts for free to improve quality and standards, and to lead the industry’s campaigning to raise the profile of play amongst policy makers. “We’re delighted to appoint all seven of the nominees proposed by our membership. The new officers have over 25 years’ experience within the play industry and are subsequently well placed to promote the benefits of play and the API membership.” Members of the Executive Committee remaining in position for a further twelve months are Michael Hoenigmann, Vice Chair, Jupiter Play and Leisure; Vicki Braithwaite, Pennine Playgrounds. API
Enquiry 59
Wicksteed An ice cool project
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