The local authority is responsible for sponsoring
the Play Shaper event and inviting around 20 participants.
Your Play England regional manager supports local authorities in
setting up these events, and will provide guidance on whom to
invite, selecting a venue and how to promote the seminar.
Further information on how to run a Play Shaper event and select
a suitable venue is available to download in the briefing paper
How to run a Play Shaper event.
Set a budget for the event
While the facilitators and all training materials will be
provided free of charge, there may be some costs to the local
authority, including:
- hiring the venue
- lunch and refreshments
- administration costs
Set a date
Checking the availability of your most senior participants and
speakers will help when setting a date for your seminar. Discuss
possible dates with the Play England regional manager – they will
know the availability of the facilitators and can advise on timing
the event to coincide with local priorities. Ideally, set the date
for your event three months ahead, to allow plenty of time to
organise and promote it.
Provide information on local priorities
Complete the local priorities questionnaire given to you by your
Play England regional manager. Using this information, each Play
Shaper seminar is tailored to reflect the specific needs of your
Local Development Framework, Children and Young People’s Plan and
other local priorities.
Venue
Refer to the venue checklist. This details what to consider when
selecting a venue for your Play Shaper seminar.
Invite your participants
You should invite people who hold key strategic positions across
the Local Strategic Partnership and Children’s Trust.
These will usually include representatives from planning,
transport, housing, landscape architecture, education and extended
services, the police, voluntary and community sector, and the
Primary Care Trust.
Every seminar should involve senior figures appropriate for the
local area, even if only for a portion of the day. These could be
the local MP, the local play champion, local councillors, the
director of the local play association, the director of children’s
services and the director of parks or planning. This will help the
seminar achieve maximum impact.
Remember, the aim of the Play Shaper seminar is to help embed
play within common agendas across the authority. Participants
should be decision makers within their departments, who can affect
change.
Promoting the seminar
The following will help you promote your seminar:
- Inform your press or communications department that the seminar
is taking place as soon as you have set the date.
Ask your Play England regional manager for electronic copies of the
promotional flyer. Add details of when and where your event is
taking place and send out the flyer with your invitation
letter.
- Follow up with a phone call to see how the invitation was
received.
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