Sunderland's BIG Lottery Children's Play Programme

As part of the BIG Lottery Children's Play Programme each local authority area was allocated an amount of money based on the child population of the area and weighted by the level of deprivation.

In Sunderland an allocation of £759,000 was made to the City from BIG.  To secure this funding the City Council had to apply to the BIG Lottery Fund firstly by submitting an expression of interest showing that the projects can satisfy the 3-Frees test for play and the BIG Children's Play Programme outcomes.  A full application was submitted in August 2007 and the funding was secured in January 2008.  The following information explains how the City Council secured this funding.

BACKGROUND

In Sunderland the City Council already had an existing Play & Urban Games Strategy for 2003 -2013.  However, our existing strategy concentrated on fixed play & urban games provision.  The Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) issued guidance in 2006 and has an expectation that the scope of any play strategy should go beyond thinking about play in terms of only fixed provision and should consider play opportunities in the broadest sense.

In response to the guidance we worked with partners to develop and update our Play & Urban Games Strategy.  The document is aimed to guide the development of play in Sunderland over the next 5 years.  Additionally in 2006 the BIG Lottery announced the Children Play Initiative which included an allocation of funding to each local authority towards investment in play.

One of the objectives in the Play and Urban Games Strategy is to increase access to play opportunities in Sunderland.  This funding will benefit over 10,000 children and young people in the city whose access to high quality play provision will be increased.

Play is fundamental for the development and well-being of children and young people and is a means by which they can explore their environment, their roles and responsibilities. The new play provision will increase the number of local children and young people engaging in formal and informal play, which will help to tackle health inequalities, the development of educational skills, social skills, and just as importantly, provide fun opportunities for free.

PORTFOLIO PROJECTS

Our Play and Urban Games Strategy supports the selection of a range of portfolio projects which was submitted to the BIG Lottery Children’s Play Fund.  Children across the city will benefit from new play facilities, thanks to this lottery funding. The funding was secured with the support of a number of schools and youth groups, which helped to submit the application to the Big Lottery Fund.

The six portfolio projects will be suitable for children and young people (including those with disabilities), from 0-19 years of age. However the vast majority of the usage is predicted to be by children and young people under 16yrs age.  The project include new play areas and redevelopments of existing play facilities, one located in each of the Cities regeneration areas.

The six portfolio projects include the following:

• Hudson Road Play Area, Hendon Ward, East Sunderland;
  
• Barmston Play Area, Barmston Village, Washington East Ward, Washington, working in partnership with Gentoo;
  
• Thompson Park Play Area, Southwick Ward, North Sunderland;
  
• Newbottle Play Area, Houghton Ward, Coalfields;
  
• The Blackie Play Area, Pallion Ward, West Sunderland, working in partnership with Gentoo;
  
• Herrington Park Play Area, St Chad's Ward, South Sunderland.

Please follow the link for further information about the Portfolio projects

Please contact Sport & Leisure by telephone (0191) 5614590/4591 or  e-mail sports.leisure@sunderland.gov.uk

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