Source: Children and Young People Now


By Ross Watson

Disabled children are struggling to access newly developed government-funded play spaces, despite requirements to make them inclusive, according to research seen exclusively by CYP Now.

The research, conducted by disability children's charity Kids, was based on the responses of 43 families with disabled children aged between eight and 16.

Situated across five local authority areas, the families documented their experiences of play spaces in their local communities.

Only three of the 15 playgrounds visited by families were easy for all children to get into. A lack of dropped kerbs and convenient parking were the most common barriers.

With the exception of one play area, wheelchair users and children who preferred sensory play were unable to access any equipment within any play spaces across all five local authorities.

Alex Mills, regional development officer for Kids, said: "Sometimes not all the agencies involved in developing the spaces have understood the various requirements of different children."

The previous government invested £235m in creating 3,500 new and refurbished play areas, and 30 new adventure playgrounds by 2011. A condition of the funding given to local authorities was that all the play spaces were inclusive and accessible to disabled children and young people.

Last month, the coalition government lifted the ringfence from funding for play spaces. Mills warned this could magnify the problem for disabled children. She called on the government to make a long-term commitment to changing local attitudes and increasing awareness of disabled children's needs and right to play.

Kids is contracted to provide support to Play England, which was previously tasked with monitoring the progress of local play spaces until the government reduced its role last month.

Commenting on the research Adrian Voce, Play England's director, said: "There were no absolute prescriptions placed on local authorities, but they were required to consider the guidance we provided. The research must be seen in the context of the wider challenges facing disabled children."



Unless otherwise stated, views expressed in this article are those of the author alone.





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