Play England http://www.playengland.org.uk/ and partners – Playing Out http://playingout.net/ and London Play http://www.londonplay.org.uk/ – have embarked on a ground breaking new project http://www.playengland.org.uk/streetplay funded by the Department of Health to reactivate street play in communities up and down the country. This builds on a Playing Out project pioneered in Bristol to support local residents close their street for up to two to three hours at regular intervals. The Chief Medical Officer’s Annual Report 2012 https://www.gov.uk/government/news/chief-medical-officer-prevention-pays-our-children-deserve-better said ‘for children of primary school age, time spent in active, free play outside school (running around and playing games) can contribute a significant amount of time to their physical activity rates’. This scheme shows how public health can work with local residents to improve health outcomes. Claire Lowman Public Health Service Lead for Bristol City Council gives her perspective on the health and community benefits of street play, originally posted on the Playing Out blog http://playingout.net/playing-public-health-perspective/
