Facilitating Inclusive Play |
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The Facilitating Inclusive Play Project (FIP)is a newly funded project, which is an extension to the work above. Its aim is to work to include Disabled children/ young people, aged 5 to 13 years, into mainstream play provision at sites across Hackney during their out of school hours. The Project provides fully trained and experience Inclusive Playworkers, who will enable Disabled children to access local play opportunities during term-time. The FIP takes a child centered approached, and aims to have the flexibility to respond to the individual play needs of Children and their families.
We are currently working with a wide range of organizations and individuals to support inclusive play access for children in Hackney. |
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The Inclusive Play Project was established in July 2003, and has provided direct support that has enabled over 300 disabled children/ young people and their siblings to access mainstream adventure playgrounds across the borough. In addition, hundreds more have benefited from Inclusive mobile play sessions commissioned by the Project, which have delighted children at playsites across Hackney.
The FIP team will work to support staff on playgrounds to extend inclusive play opportunities to all children who are local to their sites. We recognize that barriers still remain to Disabled Children in getting access to inclusiove play opportunities. These barriers include: inaccessible sites, buildings, structures and transport. Often the policies, practices and procedures are the barriers which need addressing and most significantly, the disabling attitudes of others.
The FIP team seeks to address these barriers through the provision of: A trained team of Inclusive Play workers, some of whom are based on site at the playgrounds, the provision of on site training and support for staff teams and to provide advice and assistance regarding organizational policies, procedures and inclusive practices to staff, management committees, play professionals and parents. Where essential we may be able to assist individual children with transport to support them to access play provision independently.