Active Environments

ParkPlay Basildon

Free Family Activities in the Park

ParkPlay offers free, fun games and activities for families in local parks every Saturday morning, bringing together people of all ages and abilities to take part in physical activity.

There are currently six ParkPlay venues in Basildon, and the project aims to engage the whole family, utilise local green space and strengthen communities. It focuses on communities with a strong need for free, inclusive activity and attracting people who are less active and don’t feel traditional sport is for them.

 

Group 1
Who’s it for?
Families living in and around Basildon
Goal 1
Prime Objective:
encourage families to become more active together
Goal 2
Second Objective:
to showcase the experience of life-changing power of play
 
ParkPlay Basildon, the first of the Essex's locations
 
6
current ParkPlay venues in Basildon
261
Basildon ParkPlay sessions delivered
6,599
participants attended in total
 

The national initiative has a close association with the local Essex community. The first location was at Vange Primary School in October 2020, after the headteacher got in touch with CEO and founder Rick Jenner to ask if their playing field could become a venue. Groups of up to 90 now play here each week with activities ranging from football to dodgeball and tag to frisbee. Additional ParkPlay venues in Basildon include Northlands, Mopsies, Wickford, Lake Meadow and most recently Eversley. Eversley launched in April 2022 and are already regularly seeing between 70-90 participants each week.

Active Essex was integral to bringing ParkPlay to Essex and bringing together local partners including ATF and Basildon Council, who have been essential to the success and growth of Parkplay in Basildon. The weekend activities wouldn’t be possible without the time and dedication from the PlayLeaders, who tailor each session, which can vary from park to park.

 
ParkPlay has allowed us as a family to get outdoors, find a new community and get active together. My son has grown in confidence and loves being more active. Because it’s free, ParkPlay has allowed us to attend on a weekly basis when possible and we’re really grateful!
Zoe, ParkPlayer
 
57%
of ParkPlayers are women/girls
55%
of ParkPlayers come from the 40% most deprived communities
71%
of ParkPlayers were inactive or fairly active
 
 
 
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