As research by PlayDay, the national day for play, reveals that just 21% of children play outside regularly, Annington, the company responsible for The Crescent development in Carterton, and owner of the married quarters housing connected to Armed Forces bases in Oxfordshire, including RAF Benson in Wallingford, RAF Bicester, RAF Kingston, RAF Northwood, Dalton Barracks in Abingdon and Shrivenham Barracks has partnered with the Armed Forces and Playing Out, a parent and resident-led movement, to set up the first ever national Forces Playday. This initiative, which took place yesterday (4thAugust 2021), is an offshoot from the annual PlayDay,a campaign that highlights the importance of play in children’s lives and celebrates children’s right to play.
Forces Playday aims to encourage children from Service families to rediscover the joy of playing outside, and the initiative aims to reconnect military communities, increase wellbeing, and boost morale amongst Forces families. The campaign benefited 8,500 Forces youngsters at more than 70 Army, Navy and RAF bases across the UK.
Annington’s sponsorship of the project allowed every military base to purchase equipment and traditional toys such as skipping ropes and chalks, as well as providingtraining from Playing Out for military personnel supervising the play sessions.Annington also provided specially printed ‘Road Closed’ signs manufactured by the RBLI’s social enterprise Britain’s Bravest Manufacturing Company.All equipment will be retained by the Bases so further supervised play sessions can be run throughout the summer holidays.
Jane Harsham, Corporate Responsibility Manager at Annington, comments: “The Armed Forces have been the unsung heroes of the past year and their children have played their part too, with thousands having dealt with greater periods of parental absence. Sponsoring the first national Forces PlayDay and providing military communities with the opportunity to reconnect through the celebration of children’s outdoor play has provided important relief at this time.We hope everyone has a great summer.”
Alice Ferguson, Co-Director at Playing Out adds: “I would like to thank Annington on behalf of Playing Out and all the military children that are benefiting from play streets this summer. Playing outside and being part of your community is an essential part of
a happy healthy childhood and it’s fantastic that Annington and the Armed Forces are supporting this to happen”.
The 135 new homes at The Crescent by Annington are located on the site of former MOD housing, connected to RAF Brize Norton in Carterton.
To find out more about the homes available at The Crescent or to register your interest, please call Connells on 01993 847309. For more information about Annington, please visit www.annington.co.uk