Play and Youth Development

Play is an essential part of every child's life and is vital for the enjoyment of childhood as well as social, emotional, intellectual and physical development (Play England).  Play is not just something which small children do.  We all play throughout our lives yet as we grow older we find different names for it.

There are many benefits experienced by a playing child:

• Provides children with opportunities to enjoy freedom, choice and control.
• Offers children opportunities for testing boundaries and exploring risk.
• Offers a variety of physical, social and intellectual experiences for children.

What do we do to support children and young people's play opportunities?: 

• Co-ordinate, develop, deliver and promote the provision of play opportunities for children throughout the borough.
• Support and develop projects, which promote and deliver opportunities for children and young people.
• Provide funding and funding advice to play providers

All of our work is based on the professional and ethical framework of the Playwork Principles (Playwork Principles Scrutiny Group, Cardiff 2005).  Further information regarding these principles can be found using the link on this page.

Our Play and Youth Development service provides play opportunities for children through projects such as; the FISH holiday playscheme, Guildford Playranger Project and various community events.

As a play and leisure based service we do not provide childcare, however further information on childcare as well as a wide range of other leisure, play and recreational activities for children and families can be found using the Surrey Family Information Service and Surrey Parents pages.  Links for these are available on this page.

We also provide support to existing and emerging voluntary and community sector play providers to develop and improve the quality of play provision.

Summaries of the research and evidence of the positive benefits of play are discussed in detail in 'Play for a Change' and the Children's Play Council's 'Making the Case for Play' which can be accessed  along with other useful information on the Play England website. A link to the Play England website is provided on this page. 

We also have a dedicated section of this site which provides information and guidance on accessing facilities, services and activities for young people. Visit this section by using the links in the related pages.