Crucially, it will develop a national play plan to shape future government policy.
Paul Lindley OBE is an award-winning British entrepreneur, social campaigner and best-selling author. In 2006 he founded Ella’s Kitchen, the UK’s largest baby food brand. In 2018 he was appointed Chair of London’s Child Obesity Taskforce by Sadiq Khan, Mayor of London, and was appointed Chancellor of the University of Reading in 2022. In 2019 he founded just IMAGINE if… a biennial innovation competition supporting entrepreneurial ideas addressing global challenges. He is Chair of Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights UK, sits on the board of environmental beer brand Toast Ale and is a Trustee of Sesame Workshop, the creators of Sesame Street. His first book, Little Wins: The Huge Power of Thinking Like a Toddler was published in 2017.
Paul’s recent book, Raising the Nation, drew together co-authors from across academia, charities, business, and politics to share ideas that could transform life chances for children. The two-year project of researching and writing the book highlighted the huge importance of play and underlined how supporting and encouraging children to play has become a neglected policy area, to the detriment of children’s health, wellbeing, education, learning, and social skills.
The Raising the Nation Play Commission wants to make play a central part of childhood again.
"Play is vital for our children’s development, education and mental health. The best investment we can make for the UK’s future is in our children’s wellbeing, and in this election campaign its time our politicians put them first.
“Play is at the centre of happy childhoods. The decisions adults make can have a huge impact on how easy or difficult it is to play, where and when it’s possible, and even put up new barriers to play. With the help of our commissioners, legal experts, and young advisers, we will spell out what is stopping children playing today and make policy proposals for the future."
"I’m delighted that the Play Commission is one of the first major projects of the Centre for Young Lives. We are looking forward to working with Paul, experts, parents, and children on developing an ambitious and creative play strategy for the next Government to implement.
"It's time to give children their childhoods back."
Many children and young people in are living with enormous challenges around poverty, mental health, and obesity. The digital world, increase in traffic, poor planning, changing nature of our communities and public spaces, and the dramatic reduction in the availability of safe areas to play, have changed children’s experiences of childhood.
Although research consistently shows how play improves learning and social and physical development, children are now spending 50% less time on unstructured outdoor play than they did in the 1970s.
There has been a loss of free play and active outdoor play initiated and directed by children themselves. Children are far less likely to play for hours each day, burning calories, learning social and creative skills, discovering the world around them and sometimes just letting off steam.
We need to give children their childhood back. That is why we have launched the year-long Play Commission to develop a national play plan that shapes future government policy.
It is time to prioritise safe, playful spaces, teach teachers to play, ensure school days have plentiful playtime, and put forward a raft of other ideas to encourage thriving childhoods - and a thriving nation.
We will bringing together experts from the world of play, academia, children’s rights, education, and communities as commissioners and advisors, seeking expertise and evidence and providing a platform for thought leadership events, parliamentary engagement, and visits to identify the leading practice in the field.
We will produce reports to share with practitioners, stakeholders, policymakers, and politicians. We will be politically independent but influential.
The Play Commission is a unique opportunity to present the next government with the arguments and evidence it needs to put play at the heart of a more ambitious agenda for raising the nation.
A national panel of experts and leaders is being appointed to inform the work of the Commission, combining personal and professional insight and understanding of children’s play and the impact on the lives of young people and communities. This includes academics, psychologists, child development experts, local and central government experts, economists, and business leaders.
The Commissioners will meet throughout the year to provide advice, as well as taking part in a series of evidence sessions. You can find out more about the Commissioners who have been appointed so far below, with more Commissioners to follow shortly.
Check out our current roles!
Check out our current roles!
Check out our current roles!
A group of 15 young advisors will be recruited. They will meet virtually (3-4 times) throughout the Commission providing topic specific advice and input to policy shaping and development. They will also attend some of the Commission formal events.
