The playground creators at Playscheme are getting behind the Association of Play Industries (API) “Play Must Stay” campaign, which highlights alarming trends in playground closures and increases in children’s screentime.

The API’s research shows that more than one public playground is closed every week, with a 44% decrease in spend on play facilities forecast by 2020/21 when compared to 2017/18. Simultaneously, parents are highlighting that having access to playgrounds would make their child more active and that nearly 50% of parents are struggling to persuade their child to leave their screen behind.

As API members, Playscheme is echoing the Association’s call for urgent and sustained investment in public play provision.

Steve Danby, Playscheme Managing Director, said, “The API’s research shows that increasing local play provision encourages children to play outside more and to move away from their screens.”

He adds: “As well as sustained local and government investment, we believe there’s a need for us all to play our part in encouraging children to be active. We can set good examples ourselves, and we can also call on those who have influence – such as social media companies – to do their part. Today, for example, if you want to post a status update to Facebook to say you’re “playing”, the lead icon that pops up is a games console. If you search for social media gifs on the theme of “play”, you’ll find plenty of cat videos, but scant evidence of children playing. In our view, this does little to encourage children to be active.”

Whether it’s encouraging friends and family to use their local playground more frequently, lobbying your local council for playground investment, or using the #playmuststay hashtag on social media, we can all play our part in securing the future of our playgrounds.