Lots to catch up on! Things have been happening quite fast so here’s a quick summary of the past few months:
Oxford
In May we won funding form the Oxford Funding Network to bring Playing Out to Oxford. Already started working with our ‘seed’ streets and will be running workshops alongside ‘seed’ Playing Out sessions from September. Great interest/response so far.
Bristol
Following the workshops in March, St Vincents’ Rd, Monk Rd, Monmouth Rd, Maycliffe Park, Upper Bellfield Rd have all organised Playing Out sessions. Some are now wanting to go further and do it every week and we are working with Bristol City Council to try to make that possible. The will is there…
Playday
3rd August is National Playday, celebrating children’s right to play, and Bristol has chosen to make it all about street play. 5 streets ‘signed up’ so far to do playing out on the day, despite being in the school holidays!
Growing the ‘Network’
We’re very happy to see that the idea of Playing Out is catching on and people are using the website and a bit of our advice to get on with it themselves. A street in London (Devonshire Rd in Camden) organised a Playing Out session recently and announced it “a resounding success”. The Facebook group (our current ‘network’ home) now has over 180 members – please join to share your thoughts/experiences.
Green Talk 2011
Amy and Alice were invited to talk about the project at this newly launched event. See the 8-minute talk here.
Workshops in Bristol and Beyond
This month over 45 people (residents and playworkers) have participated in our workshops around Bristol and at the SouthWest Play Celebration in Gloucester. Several have already started the ball rolling in their streets.
Could this be the start of a movement?