Wendy Russell

£500,000 National Adventure Playground Fund launched — Play England A new national funding programme has launched to protect, restore and grow staffed adventure playgrounds across England. The Adventure Playground Fund is a £500,000 programme offering unrestric...

Hey #AdventurePlaygrounds in England, here's a rare funding opportunity. Well done, @playengland.bsky.social

www.playengland.org.uk/newsblog/500...

Yes, exactly, you can't be sure. So much of my work is time sensitive, so sometimes I can't use a brilliant report because it's not dated

Dear organisations: PLEASE DATE YOUR PUBLICATIONS!!
Yet again, I'm doing a review that involves grey literature. Yet again, I consistently come up against organistions not dating their publications. Having no date really reduces the impact of your hard work. #RantOver

another reason not to use wet pour maybe?

History: Serious about Play: Childhood, Play and Policymaking in Wales, 1945 to the present (RS936) - Swansea University We offer a wide range of funded and fully funded research scholarships in all subject areas. Explore your options and apply now.

Oh WOW!!!!! This has to be somebody's dream PhD!

www.swansea.ac.uk/postgraduate...

Advert for Youth Sports Trust conference 4 March 2026 at Telford International Centre, saying "I'll be speaking" with a head shot of Wendy Russell

I’ll be speaking the Youth Sport Trust Conference putting play on the map as part of their work supporting young people to thrive, with their happiness and health at the heart of schools and communities.
www.youthsporttrust.org/school-suppo...
#YSTConference

Wes Streeting asks US expert Jonathan Haidt to address officials on social media ban for under-16s Exclusive: Health secretary issues invitation in push for UK to consider copying landmark restrictions in Australia

Worrying to see this, and the power of the reductive narrative that focuses primarily/only on screens as the cause of the "anxious generation"; it permits an avoidance of bigger debates about the decline of spaces for children & young people, the impacts of austerity & inequality, and so much more:

International colleagues - please share. Call for Papers for “More Than Child’s Play: Global Perspectives on the History of Playgrounds”, Zurich 26-28 Aug. They are looking "beyond the existing West-centric scholarship."
Deadline is tight - 15 January.
networks.h-net.org/group/announ...

International colleagues - please share. Call for Papers for “More Than Child’s Play: Global Perspectives on the History of Playgrounds”, Zurich 26-28 Aug. They are looking "beyond the existing West-centric scholarship."
Deadline is tight - 15 January.
networks.h-net.org/group/announ...

Sadly, I can't make it. I'd love to be there. :(

Ooh!! Looks like a trip up there is in order! Thanks for sharing!

that's an amazing photo!

BBC Radio 4 - Three Ages of Child, Episode 2: The Middle Years A journey through the landscape that shapes the health of our children.

This episode of the middle years, part of @drguddisingh.bsky.social 3 Ages of Child series is brilliant, looking at bottom up health creation rather than top down illness treatment. Plus it features Glamis #AdventurePlayground.
www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m...

As a taxpayer, I am happy to pay more tax to support public services and welfare. That is a mark of a civic, collective society rather than one based on individual self-interest and the elevation of wealth to a virtue. #Budget2025

#TypoOfTheDay: Play Ragers @playglos.bsky.social

Transactions of the Institute of British Geographers | RGS Journal | Wiley Online Library In this paper, we explore what the experiences of some children and families in their neighbourhoods during the first UK COVID-19 lockdown can tell us about the value and importance of neighbourhood ...

Our recent article reflecting on neighbohood play during the first covid-19 lockdown, using Donald Winnicott (and Bonnie Honig and Joanna Kellond) to think about play, space, and care, both in the pandemic and beyond, now has a home in @tibg.bsky.social's December issue.

@wendyrussell.bsky.social

Please sign the petition to save Human Geopgraphy at University of Leicster
c.org/MrqhhLBH8J

And this from 3 months ago - although the link is broken ...

Human Geography at Leicester is facing closure. Staff contracts are to end in June 2026; students are to be relocated to other universities, or taught out by a maximum of two (!) teaching-only staff. Other departments and subjects are facing closure, too. Please join the demo!

Child-made signs at Shiremoor Adventure Playground

A poster advertising last week’s Halloween Playday

At a trustees’ meeting at Shiremoor Adventure Playground last night, and the playworkers reported an average of 50-60 kids at after-school sessions through October. And a massive 422 visitors (children & adults) for the Halloween playday. It’s such an important place.

I'm reading through a collection of #playworkers' documentation of brief snapshot moments of playing & laughing out loud. In amongst the funding & sustainability headaches & other not-so-good aspects of the work, these joyous moments are what it's all about. #nonsense #playforplayssake #pleasure

Call for abstracts

Call for Abstracts for 2026 IPA world conference (2-5 Nov in Christchurch). Deadline 17 Feb 2026 NZDT. Theme: Auahatia (Innovating for Play), exploring bold, inclusive & culturally rich ways to create a world where all tamariki have the right to play
www.ipachristchurch2026.com/call-for-abs...

Playthings and Playtimes Explore the concept of play through diverse cultural lenses, from toys to local practices that shape the experience of play.

Oh wow, can't wait to read this! I loved the Francis Alys exhibition. Open access too. Now all I need is some time ...
uclpress.co.uk/book/playthi...

Restoring children's freedom to play out: let's seize the moment Society is waking up to children's right and need to play out; councils and orgs around the UK are taking action, come and get inspired !

Please do sign up for - and share - this webinar, on Dec 3rd, to hear about some of the amazing work going on nationally and locally to restore children's ability to play out on their doorsteps.

@rezinachowdhury.bsky.social @edwardlamb.bsky.social @playingout.bsky.social @aliceferguson.bsky.social

The Geographical Journal | RGS Research Journal | Wiley Online Library This paper analyses the changing geographies of ethnic diversity and segregation in England and Wales using Census data covering the last 30 years (1991–2021). Residential segregation of all ethnic g...

If you're interested in understanding segregation and integration better, here is a good paper by the UK's leading academics on the topic

rgs-ibg.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

Great thread here from @alisonstenning.bsky.social on the case for paying attention to children's capability to play during #Covid19 lockdowns, including a couple of articles we wrote based on our research. So pleased @aliceferguson.bsky.social gave evidence on this to the Covid Inquiry

🚨 We’re Recruiting: Independent Chair, Senior Independent Director & Independent Director 🚨

Help lead our bold, new 10-year strategy #ItAllStartsWithPlay!

Find out more & apply by 23 Oct 👉 www.playengland.org.uk/newsblog/wer...

#IndependentDirectors #Chair #Trustee #CharityLeadership

The parallels are fascinating. There are different issues with the digital world & digital play, as there are with public space & designated play spaces. But I'd say the profit motive affects all four as do (linked) narratives of fear (sometimes valid in complex ways).

Thank you @bsky.app for the bookmarking option!!

What do you see as the barriers?