All councils in England will now be able to access cash for playgrounds as ministers bring forward spending to boost the economy.
They will be eligible for at least £1m under a national play strategy aimed at making areas "child friendly". The money is part of a £235m programme, from which ministers have made £30m available early.
"By rolling out our programme more quickly to local authorities, so that every local authority is offered funding by April 2009, we can get better facilities available to children sooner, and support the economy at the same time," says Children’s Secretary Ed Balls
The play strategy formed part of the Children’s Plan, published a year ago, which ministers said was aimed at "making the country the best place in the world for children to live".
Under the play plans, 10 local authorities will receive an average of £2.5m to spend on supervised adventure playgrounds and other play areas.
Officials say 63 local areas have already received their funding and 89 more will do so from April this year.
The £30m being brought forward to next year had been due to be spent in 2010 and 2011 – and covers dozens of local authorities.
All of this investment and commitment explains why Playfair 2009, now in its second year, has already doubled in size over last year.
“Everyone’s incredibly enthusiastic about this years show” says marketing director Will Broadfoot . “We are really looking forward to completing the central attraction, the Playfair Playscape which is designed to offer ideas for play providers and designers of children’s play areas.
“We have also invited 200 children from local schools to gauge their reaction to the playground
“We have also been working closely with the Association of Play Industries to make sure our show meets the needs of everyone involved in this industry from the public and the private sector,” says Will
Exhibitors at this show include playground designers and manufactures, installers, publishers of titles regularly covering play in the public sector and the trade bodies behind the show, notably the Association of Play Industries (API).
Entry and parking is free and to avoid queuing, visitors can pre-register free, on line at the Playfair website: www.playfairuk.com which will progressively publish details of seminars, exhibitors and contacts.
For more information on Play Fair 2009 contact Ray Baxter at r.Baxter@hgluk.com or call 0207 973 4695
Playfair 2009. 23-24 June at Stoneleigh Park, Coventry.
(Don’t miss the June issue of The Landscaper for a full preview of this show)
Exhibitors booked so far
Assocaition of Play Industries ( API )
E J Services ( UK ) Ltd
Eibe Play Ltd
HAGS Play Ltd
Kompan Ltd
Lappset UK Ltd
Matta Products ( UK ) Ltd
Melcourt Industries Ltd
Notts Sport Ltd
Park Leisure Ltd
Play & Leisure Ltd
Playdale Playgrounds Ltd
Playtop Ltd
Playworld Systems ( Europe ) Ltd
Proludic Ltd
Public Sector Software Ltd
Record RSS Ltd
Russell Leisure Ltd
Safe & Sound Playgrounds Ltd
SMP ( Playgrounds ) Ltd
Sun Safe Play Systems Ltd
Sutcliffe Play Ltd
The Play Inspection Company Ltd
UAC Ltd
SAFEA
RPII
External Environment Product Review
Play & Activity Today
M & M Timber Ltd
Local Government News
Building for Leisure
Husson UK Ltd
Huck Nets ( UK ) Ltd
Ecoscape UK Ltd
BALI