Building a Community through Play - Blog

By Kate Staniforth 

15th November 2021

Last year, I moved from the house I’d lived in for 16 years. It was really tough to say goodbye to the street and neighbours who had become friends. We had really supported each other throughout 2020 with a WhatsApp group, music performances, VE day tea and cake (at a distance) but our resident community started a long time before the pandemic. 

In 2014 we became the 50th street in Bristol to ‘Play Out’. We shut our road to through traffic every Friday after school for 3 years, nearly every week. Our kids got to know each other, played safely on the street and neighbours started talking! I got to know so many people (including those without children) and we enjoyed spending time together. Who knew that hopscotch, skipping and chalking could do so much to bring people together!

Fast forward to now, and I’m helping residents, across Bristol who want to start a Play Street where they live – a traditional street, or estate setting. I feel really lucky as I’m spreading the word about this scheme, meeting great people and I go to people’s first Play Street, which is always really special (and there is usually cake)! 

If residents in Lockleaze are interested I can help and it’s totally free – we provide all the kit needed! It’s up to every street to decide how often they want to run Playing Out sessions. Children don’t have the freedoms a lot of us had when we were growing up and Play Streets provides a safe space for children to grow in confidence and independence as well as being active. 

To find out more you can visit our website www.playingout.net, call us on 0117 9537167 or email me kate@playingout.net There are some great videos on our website which really explains the process and how a simple idea can really benefit everyone: https://playingout.net/play-streets/start-on-your-street/four-simple-steps/