How to run a Play Shaper seminar

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.