East Devon’s play day a big hit!
A playday event run by East Devon’s StreetScene team in Exmouth’s Phear Park in support of National Playday, has proved immensely popular with the local community.
The council-run playday, which took place on August 3, received plenty of support from a number of East Devon services, including the Recycling and Waste team, as well as local organisations such as Exmouth and District Children’s Centre, Exmouth in Bloom and Devon and Somerset Fire and Rescue Service.
On National Playday thousands of children and their families get out to play at hundreds of community events across the UK. As well as being a celebration of children’s right to play, Playday is a campaign that highlights the importance of play in children’s lives.
Jane Nicholls, StreetScene’s Parks and Open Spaces Improvement Officer, took a head count several times during the event, which lasted from 11am to 3pm, and said that an average of at least 750 people attended the event .
Jane explained the significance of National Playday, which is an annual event that takes place on the first Wednesday of August across the country. “National Playday is such an important day of the year and it was wonderful to be able to celebrate in this way with plenty of free activities. We spoke to a number of residents who were happy to have such a fun packed event in their local park and they are looking forward to next year’s event already!”
Activities on offer included a bouncy castle, face painting, garden games, circus skills, taster tennis sessions and a hugely popular recycling craft activity stand run by Lorna Christo, Recycling and Waste Management Officer for East Devon District Council, who said:
“The day went brilliantly! We started at 11am and didn’t stop until we ran out of bottles just before 3pm! Recycled crafts proved a very popular activity and we spoke to lots of parents on ways they can improve their recycling. The overwhelming feedback I received on the event was ‘please can it be done again next year’ – you couldn’t ask for a better response!”
Councillor Iain Chubb, Portfolio holder for the Environment at East Devon District Council, said:
“East Devon’s StreetScene team did a wonderful job running this hugely successful family event in celebration of National Playday. There were plenty of fun activities for people to get involved with and we had a terrific turnout of all ages, which was really rewarding. Our team demonstrated how easy it is to celebrate Playday – it doesn’t matter whether your plans are big or small, what’s most important is that children and young people get the opportunity to play outside for the day, and that we highlight the importance of play in children’s lives.”
East Devon will be taking part in National Playday again next year, so pop this date in your diary now – 2 August 2017
