Dawn Bowden MS, Minister for Children and Social Care
On 11 June we will celebrate the second International Day of Play (external link), and I am delighted to present children and young people's versions of our Ministerial Review of Play Progress Report, along with an informative animation (external link).
The Welsh Government places children’s rights at the heart of everything we do. We want children and young people to be informed about our journey as we progress our actions in response to the Ministerial Review of Play Steering Group's recommendations.
The theme for this year’s International Day of Play on 11 June is “Choose play – every day”. Through our world-leading play sufficiency legislation and the actions we are taking forward following our Ministerial Review of Play, we are demonstrating the value we place on the importance of play in our children and young people’s lives. As Minister for Children and Social Care, I am working across Government, in collaboration with other key portfolios, to take forward this work.
We will be welcoming receipt of local authorities’ 2025 Play Sufficiency Assessments at the end of this month and look forward to hearing children’s views on opportunities available to them to play.
We will continue to work with local authorities and our other stakeholders, to support our ambitions in improving the availability of play opportunities and the quality of play spaces. I am looking forward to hearing local authorities’ proposals for their use of the £5m capital funding we’ve awarded this year for the improvement of playgrounds and play facilities, including the creation of inclusive and accessible play spaces.
I express my thanks to all who have been involved in the progress we have made to date and look forward to continuing to work together to realise our vision for Wales being a play friendly country.