active play


enormous benefits of outdoor play to help combat that. The 50 signatories to the Position Statement are testament to this movement and we have already had other organisations get in touch because they want to sign up too. If everyone with a vested interest in our children’s future (and we believe that means everybody) can work together to encourage our children to play outdoors we can avert this crisis and support our children to thrive.


Position Statement: https://www.inspiringscotland.org.uk/ wp-content/uploads/2018/10/Coalition- Position-Statement.pdf


Statement, which launched last October. The Position Statement is about creating a


coherent and collective national drive towards increasing outdoor play. There are already strong policies, at national and local level, and a degree of understanding across sectors that outdoor play is important, but policies and actions were not always joining up so outcomes where not at a level that we all wanted. The Position Statement comes with commitments for organisations to act on their beliefs about outdoor play. When it comes to playgrounds and other outdoor spaces, we hope this will have a significant effect. There are commitments in the Position Statement about creating more play-friendly spaces as well as encouraging the use of existing spaces much more. We are working with Scottish government and eight local authorities to put this into practice and with many of the signatories to the Position Statement, and believe the benefits to our children will be enormous. As the Position Statement says; outdoor play is life-enhancing and we want nothing less for our children.


When children play outdoors, they naturally move so much more than indoors


tackling the health crisis The need to increase physical activity levels for our children and young people is one of the reasons that the word outdoor is key to this drive. When children play outdoors, they naturally move so much more than indoors. The space afforded by being outdoors and the variety of environment on offer encourages children to run and climb, jump and skip, to test and increase their strength and fitness in a way that is fun. And the enjoyment makes them much more likely to return to these activities again and again, building their fitness and strength and developing physical skills. There is a health crisis in Scotland and the


UK as a whole, linked to physical inactivity, but there is also increasing recognition of the


Inspiring Scotland and Thrive Outdoors


Formed in 2008, Inspiring Scotland strives for a Scotland without poverty or disadvantage. It raises money from private individuals, trusts, foundations and the Scottish government and invests in funds addressing specific themes, nurturing partnerships with charities and organisations through shared goals and interests.


Thrive Outdoors is one of Inspiring Scotland’s 10 thematic funds which, through outdoor play, supports Scotland’s children health, wellbeing and development. Since 2010, it has funded free play in communities, Active Play in schools and leads on the development of outdoor early years education and childcare. In February, Inspiring Scotland received £862,550 from the Scottish government to encourage and support greater use of outdoor learning in the early years.


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