Military families join in outdoor play day put on by landlords

Landlord Annington has partnered with the Armed Forces and Playing Out, a parent and resident-led movement, to set up the first ever national Forces Playday.

The initiative took place on August 4 as an offshoot from the annual PlayDay, a campaign highlighting the importance of play in children’s lives, just as new research by PlayDay reveals just 21 per cent of children play outside regularly,

Forces Playday aims to encourage children from service families to rediscover the joy of playing outside, reconnecting 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, including Cranwell.

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 providing training 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, said: “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 added: “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”.