National Play Conference CREATING the CONDITIONS for PLAY

With play enjoying renewed political attention, fresh government investment and a growing evidence base, the inaugural National Play Conference arrives at an important moment for the sector. PlayNation previews a packed day

National Play Conference CREATING CONDITIONS the for PLAY

There are moments when an industry gathering becomes about rather more than meeting colleagues, exchanging ideas and listening to presentations. For the play sector, the inaugural National Play Conference may prove to be one of them. Taking place at The Slate, University of Warwick, on Friday 9 October, the conference is being organised by Play England and the Sports and Play Construction Association (SAPCA) and brings together policymakers, practitioners, researchers, designers, manufacturers, local authorities and organisations working across children’s lives. Its theme – Creating the Conditions for Play – reflects an ambition to look beyond individual playgrounds or interventions and consider the wider ecosystem that allows children to play: policy, planning, funding, spaces, professional skills, public attitudes and, crucially, the voices of children themselves.

It also arrives at a time when play has gained a level of recognition within Westminster that the sector has spent years seeking. The All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Play was formally established in September 2025, with Tom Hayes MP as Chair and Play England providing the secretariat. Its stated objectives include championing a new National Play Strategy, supporting play sufficiency legislation and strengthening play’s position within public policy. Since that inaugural meeting, the APPG has met regularly in Parliament, holding eight meetings – the latest one in July 2026. Subjects have ranged from play sufficiency and playgrounds to adventure play, schools, healthcare and digital play – evidence of how broadly play now intersects with policy.

Hayes will bring that Westminster perspective to Warwick with one of the conference’s headline sessions, A national moment for play: what should England do next?, considering how recent progress might translate into sustained national leadership.

For SAPCA Chair Dr Kathryn Severn, the conference represents an opportunity to turn that momentum into practical progress. “We meet at a time when the importance of play has never been clearer,” she says. “Across the UK, children and young people are navigating rapid social, technological and environmental change. Their opportunities to play – freely, safely, joyfully, and in ways that support their development – are shaped by the decisions we make in planning, education, health, community design and national policy.”

Their opportunities to play – freely, safely, joyfully, and in ways that support their development – are shaped by the decisions we make in planning, education, health, community design and national policy

From policy to places

Government investment will inevitably form part of that conversation.

The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government’s (MHCLG) £18 million Playground Fund is supporting 66 English local authorities to create, improve or enhance playgrounds in areas identified as having the greatest need. Each authority is allocated £270,000 across 2026-27 and 2027-28, with the programme placing particular emphasis on accessibility, inclusion, community engagement and long-term maintenance. MHCLG will be represented during a conference session bringing together planning, policy, evidence and investment.

Meanwhile, Dr Michael Martin and Dr Paul Brindley from the University of Sheffield will help formally launch Playces, the new national spatial evidence platform developed to help local authorities, planners and policymakers understand existing provision, identify inequalities and make better-informed investment decisions. That discussion will be followed by a session examining what accessible, inclusive and integrated play provision should actually look like, led by Becky Maddern of PiPA Play and featuring an opening contribution from Harriet Waldegrave of the Children’s Commissioner’s Office.

The programme deliberately stretches well beyond traditional playground provision.

Sessions will examine the future of the play workforce; how play can be supported across neighbourhoods, schools, healthcare and digital environments; what sport and coaching can learn from child-led play; and the role of streets and public space.

There will also be the launch of the University of Exeter’s new Outdoor Play Research Centre, while UK Community Foundations will introduce Free to Play UK, a five-year initiative backed by £9.3 million of initial investment and focused on outdoor, child-directed and adventurous play.

SAPCA itself will use the conference to signal further investment in play. Within the next 12 months, the association plans to introduce a dedicated play position on its Board and add a technical play role within the SAPCA team. Severn says that reflects SAPCA’s understanding that creating successful places to play involves much more than construction alone.

“Play is not simply an activity, but an ecosystem – one that depends on inclusive spaces, trained and valued workforces, supportive families, evidence-based policy and communities that understand the power of play,” she adds. “While we concentrate on the construction of places to play, we understand the importance of everyone in this room in making those places work.”

Children at the heart

Perhaps most importantly, the people the entire conference is ultimately about will not simply be discussed from the stage. Children will be at the heart of proceedings throughout the National Play Conference, with some very special – and deliberately unannounced – appearances planned during the day. It is a fitting approach for a programme that repeatedly asks how policy and practice can better reflect children’s voice, choice, experiences and rights.

For Severn, the objective is ultimately to turn a day of discussion into something longer lasting.

“This conference is not only about listening – it is about connecting,” she says. “It is about strengthening the partnerships that make change possible. “If we are serious about transforming the landscape of play in the UK, we must work together – across sectors, across disciplines and across the country.”

The final conference session asks delegates a deceptively straightforward question: what will each of us do differently to help restore a play-based childhood for all children? After a year in which play has moved further into parliamentary debate, government investment and national policy, Warwick could provide an important opportunity to begin answering it.

Tom Hayes MP: What should England do next to strengthen national leadership on play?

£18m Playground Fund: MHCLG outlines details on how investment will improve local play

Playces launch: New national platform designed to support evidence-led decisions

Inclusive play: What accessible, inclusive and integrated provision really looks like?

Play workforce: How stronger standards and recognition will support a sustainable profession.

Children’s voices: Special appearances throughout the day will keep children at the heart of proceedings.

The Slate, University of Warwick, Friday 9 October 2026

SUPPORTED BY: KOMPAN

MORNING PROGRAMME

Hosts: Amber Ogunsanya-William & Oscar

From 8:00

Delegate registration, refreshments & exhibition

9:00 – 9:30 Welcome: Creating the Conditions for Play Dr Kathryn Severn, Chair, SAPCA Play England Board representative [TBC]

9:30 – 10:00 Keynote: A national moment for play: what should England do next?

Tom Hayes MP, Chair, APPG on Play This keynote will set out the case for renewed national leadership on children’s play, building on recent investment and policy progress and looking ahead to what England should do next.

10:00 – 10:30 Creating the conditions for the right to play: Space, Time, Acceptance and Rights

Dr Naomi Lott – Lecturer in Law, University of Reading and Associate Fellow, Bonavero Institute of Human Rights, University of Oxford Dr Lott will explore how children’s right to play can move from recognition in principle to realisation in everyday life.

10:30 – 11.00 INTERVAL & EXHIBITION

11.00 – 11:45 Planning for play sufficiency: evidence, policy and investment

Dr Michael Martin, Director of Urban Design & Planning, University of Sheffield & Dr Paul Brindley, Senior Lecturer in Landscape Architecture, School of Geography & Planning, University of Sheffield

Gemma Hyde, Projects & Policy Manager, Town & Country Planning Association

Maciek Kaszubowski, Head of Parks and Green Spaces, Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government (MHCLG) This panel will explore how national policy, planning, evidence and investment can work together to create more play-friendly communities. It will ask how we move from isolated provision towards a more systematic approach in which play is planned for, protected and invested in as essential infrastructure for childhood.

11:45 – 12:15 Accessible, inclusive and integrated: what does good play provision look like? Lead speaker: Becky Maddern, PiPA Play

Opening contribution: Harriet Waldegrave, Deputy Director for Policy, Children’s Commissioner’s Office The session will explore the three interconnected principles now embedded within the £18 million Playground Fund: accessible, ensuring children and caregivers can get to, enter, move through and use the space; inclusive, enabling children of different ages, abilities and ways of playing to participate meaningfully together; and integrated, connecting play spaces to the wider neighbourhood, public realm and community.

12:15 – 12:30 Looking ahead: National Festival of Play 2027

Charlotte Barry, Event Curator & Creative Producer HemingwayDesign

Louise Blackwell, Creative Director, Creative Crawley Introducing the emerging National Festival of Play, a major multi-arts celebration in Crawley exploring play as connection, placemaking and possibility.

12:30 – 13:30 LUNCH - Supported by JUTA A.S.

AFTERNOON PROGRAMME

Hosts: Amber Ogunsanya-William and Oscar

13:30 – 14:00 The future of the play workforce: recognition, standards and a stronger profession

Sereena Keymatlian, Director, Haringey Play Association and Playworker Dr Mike Wragg, Lecturer in Playwork, Leeds Beckett University Colin Huffen, Associate Director of Standards & Regulation, CIMSPA The session will look ahead to the next phase of implementation, including the transition from the updated National Occupational Standards (NOS) towards professional standards, stronger recognition and more sustainable workforce pathways, while protecting the distinct identity, values and principles of playwork.

14:00 – 14:15 Provocation: Who owns the street?

Robert O.N. Torto, known as Rasta Rolla Drawing on lived experience and the visible occupation of public space, Rasta Rolla will explore what happens when people use streets in unexpected, playful and expressive ways, and what this tells us about who feels welcome, accepted and free to belong there.

14:15 – 15:00 PANEL: Play everywhere: creating the conditions for play across children’s lives

Laura Walsh, Director of Play in Healthcare, Starlight Children’s Foundation

Tim Gill, independent researcher and advocate on childhood and the built environment Chris Wright, Youth Sport Trust Andy Robertson, Digital Play Practitioner, Family Gaming Database Dr Amanda Gummer, Chair, Association of Play Industries This panel will explore what it takes to create the conditions for play across the different settings and experiences of children’s lives, from neighbourhoods and public space to schools, healthcare, digital environments and the places and products designed for play.

15.00 – 15.10 Launch: University of Exeter Outdoor Play Research Centre

Dr Helen Dodd, Director of the Outdoor Play Research Centre The Outdoor Play Research Centre brings together leading experts in the field and aims to deliver meaningful and lasting change for children by championing the importance of outdoor play and working in close partnership with key national organisations and charities.

15:30 – 16:00 What can sport and coaching learn from play? Putting children’s voice, choice and journey first

Heather Douglas – Head of Coaching & Policy, Play Their Way / UK Coaching Drawing on Play Their Way’s child-first coaching approach, this session will explore what the wider sport and coaching system can learn from play about voice, choice and journey.

16:00 – 16:15 Free to Play UK: investing in the conditions for play

Patrick O’Kelly, Head of Partnerships & Insight, & Sam Grimmett Batt – Director of Partnerships & Insight UK Community Foundations Free to Play UK is a new five-year, UK-wide initiative from UK Community Foundations, backed by £9.3 million of initial investment and working through 20 community foundations. Focused on outdoor, child-directed and adventurous play, the programme is being designed as a systems-change initiative rather than a traditional grants fund.

This session will introduce the emerging programme and the learning shaping its development, including the importance of playwork and workforce development, inclusion, children’s lived experience, local capacity, spatial justice and culture change.

16:15 – 16:30 From conference to action: what happens next? Eugene Minogue, Play England &

Richard Shaw, SAPCA The closing session will draw together the key commitments and announcements from the day and look ahead to what happens next.

The final challenge is simple: what will each of us do differently to help restore a play-based childhood for all children?

All information is subject to change

Sessions will examine the future of the play workforce; how play can be supported across neighbourhoods, schools, healthcare and digital environments

NATIONAL PLAY CONFERENCE 2026: SPEAKER INFORMATION

CHARLOTTE BARRY Event Curator & Creative Producer, HemingwayDesign Charlotte Barry is an Event Curator and Creative Producer a t HemingwayDesign, working across projects focused on improving the lives of children, families and young people. She holds Early Years Teacher Status and was named Early Years Teacher of the Year for her research into childhood development and education.

LOUISE BLACKWELL Creative Director and Founder, Creative Crawley Louise Blackwell is Creative Director and Founder of Creative Crawley and Co-Director of LOOKOUT Brighton. An experienced independent producer, she previously co-founded and led the internationally renowned producing organisation Fuel. She has also served on Arts Council England’s South East Area Council.

DR PAUL BRINDLEY Senior Lecturer in Landscape Planning, University of Sheffield Dr Paul Brindley is a Senior Lecturer in Landscape Planning at the University of Sheffield, specialising in GIS, spatial data and inequalities in access to greenspace. He co-authored influential research mapping playground provision in England and has helped develop the evidence base underpinning the new Playces platform.

HEATHER DOUGLAS Head of Coaching & Policy, UK Coaching Heather Douglas is Head of Coaching & Policy at UK Coaching and has 30 years’ experience in coaching development. She leads UK Coaching’s contribution to Play Their Way, helping embed children’s voice, choice and journey within coaching practice, professional standards and policy across sport and physical activity.

TIM GILL Independent Researcher and Advocate Tim Gill is an independent scholar, writer and leading authority on children’s outdoor play and mobility. A Design Council Ambassador, Churchill Fellow and former Director of the Children’s Play Council, he is the author of Urban Playground and No Fear and led a UK-wide government review of children’s play.

SAM GRIMMETT BATT Director of Partnerships & Insight, UK Community Foundations Sam Grimmett Batt is Director of Partnerships & Insight at UK Community Foundations. With two decades’ experience in philanthropy and social change, he has led major national collaborations and developed Free to Play UK, a £9.3 million initiative supporting adventurous outdoor play across 20 places.

DR AMANDA GUMMER MD and Founder, FUNdamentally Children Dr Amanda Gummer is a leading authority on play and child development and MD and Founder of Fundamentally Children. She has advised government, presented her Balanced Play Model at the European Parliament and developed accreditation frameworks adopted internationally.

TOM HAYES MP Chair, All-Party Parliamentary Group on Play Tom Hayes is Labour MP for Bournemouth East, elected in July 2024, and Chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Play. He has used Parliament to raise the profile of playgrounds and children’s right to play, including leading parliamentary debates on playground provision and investment.

COLIN HUFFEN Associate Director for Policy, CIMSPA Colin Huffen is Associate Director for Policy at CIMSPA, with experience spanning sport psychology, leisure and education. His work focuses on developing policies, procedures and professional standards that enable the sport and physical activity workforce to engage participants safely while supporting the continued professionalisation of the sector.

GEMMA HYDE Projects and Policy Manager, Town and Country Planning Association Gemma Hyde leads work on healthy placemaking at the Town and Country Planning Association. Her work examines how planning and the built environment can support health and wellbeing, with particular emphasis on embedding children’s rights, needs and voices into Local Plans and creating conditions for play and independence.

SEREENA KEYMATLIAN Director, Haringey Play Association Sereena Keymatlian is Director of Haringey Play Association and has worked in playwork since 1998. Combining organisational leadership with frontline practice at Somerford Grove Adventure Playground, she is a strong advocate for adventure play, child-led activity, risk, autonomy and protecting spaces where children can play freely.

DR NAOMI LOTT Lecturer in Law, University of Reading Dr Naomi Lott is a leading scholar on children’s right to play and author of the first legal monograph dedicated to the subject. A Lecturer at the University of Reading and Associate Fellow at Oxford’s Bonavero Institute of Human Rights, she developed the Space, Time, Acceptance and Rights framework.

BECKY MADDERN Director, PiPA Play Becky Maddern is Director of PiPA Play and a leading campaigner for accessible and inclusive playgrounds. Drawing on lived experience as the parent of a child with profound disabilities, she has spent eight years challenging conventional approaches to playground design and promoting genuinely inclusive play spaces.

DR MICHAEL MARTIN Director of Urban Design, University of Sheffield Dr Michael Martin is Director of Urban Design at the University of Sheffield and an expert on child-friendly cities and play. He co-authored influential research into play inequalities in England and has helped translate that evidence into national policy, government investment and the development of Playces.

EUGENE MINOGUE Executive Director, Play England Eugene Minogue is Executive Director of Play England and has worked across play and sport for more than 25 years, including roles in local government, Sport England and as CEO of Parkour UK. He has also served on the Play Safety Forum and British Standards Committee for playground equipment.

PATRICK O’KELLY Head of Partnerships & Insight, UK Community Foundations Patrick O’Kelly leads funding partnerships at UK Community Foundations and is leading the Free to Play UK initiative. With extensive experience in funding, impact and social investment, he previously oversaw delivery of more than £20 million through the Youth Investment Fund.

AMBER OGUNSANYA-WILLIAM Inclusive Play Consultant Amber Ogunsanya-William is an Inclusive Play Consultant, NSPCC Champion of Childhood and award-winning playworker. A prominent advocate for child-led, rights-based play, she has hosted the National Play Strategy launch in Parliament and, in 2026, became the first playworker to deliver play activities inside 10 Downing Street.

ANDY ROBERTSON Author and Founder, Family Gaming Database Andy Robertson is an author, journalist and expert on children, video games and play. Founder of the Family Gaming Database and author of Taming Gaming, his work explores digital play and helps families understand how video games can form a valuable part of childhood.

DR KATHRYN SEVERN Chair, SAPCA Dr Kathryn Severn is Chair of SAPCA and Managing Director of Labosport UK. A specialist in sports surfaces, she holds a PhD from Loughborough University and has more than 15 years’ industry experience spanning research, testing, certification, procurement and product development, including senior roles with Labosport, the Football Foundation and GreenFields.

RICHARD SHAW Chief Executive, SAPCA Richard Shaw is Chief Executive of SAPCA, the UK trade association for sports and play construction. He leads the organisation’s work to raise standards, support its membership and strengthen the quality of sports and play facilities, while representing the sector on issues including investment, planning, sustainability and facility development.

ROBERT O.N. TORTO – RASTA ROLLA Civil Engineer, Active Travel & Play Campaigner Robert O.N. Torto, known as Rasta Rolla, is a civil engineer and active travel and play campaigner. With 20 years’ experience in road safety and cycle design, he has implemented more School Streets than any other individual in the UK and now campaigns to reclaim streets for children and communities.

HARRIET WALDEGRAVE Deputy Director for Policy, Office of the Children’s Commissioner Harriet Waldegrave is Deputy Director for Policy at the Office of the Children’s Commissioner, the statutory body responsible for promoting and protecting children’s rights. She has previously worked in children’s policy for think tanks and charities and spent two years working as a child protection social worker.

LAURA WALSH Director of Play in Healthcare, Starlight Laura Walsh is Director of Play in Healthcare at Starlight, working to position play as an essential part of children’s health and wellbeing. A qualified and registered health play specialist, she was previously Head of Play at Great Ormond Street Hospital following a long career in playwork and community health.

DR MIKE WRAGG Senior Lecturer in Playwork, Leeds Beckett University Dr Mike Wragg is Senior Lecturer in Playwork at Leeds Beckett University and Chair of Play Bradford. A former play development officer and Head of Play and Youth Services, his research explores playwork, adventure playgrounds and the application of playwork approaches across different stages of life.

CHRIS WRIGHT Head of Health & Wellbeing, Youth Sport Trust Chris Wright is Head of Health & Wellbeing at the Youth Sport Trust. He led the £11.4 million Department of Health-funded Change4Life Sports Clubs programme and now leads work addressing physical inactivity and health inequalities, including the design and implementation of the Well School Movement.