National Play Conference 2026

Hosts Amber Ogunsanya-William and Oscar Beeston open the conference. Dr Kathryn Severn and Eugene Minogue give the opening remarks, followed by the child’s voice keynote, “Why play matters”.

This keynote will set out the case for renewed national leadership on children’s play, building on recent investment and policy progress and looking ahead to what England should do next.

Dr Lott will explore how children’s right to play can move from recognition in principle to realisation in everyday life.

This panel will explore how national policy, planning, evidence and investment can work together to create more play-friendly communities. It will ask how we move from isolated provision towards a more systematic approach in which play is planned for, protected and invested in as essential infrastructure for childhood.

The session will explore the three interconnected principles now embedded within the £18 million Playground Fund: accessible, ensuring children and caregivers can get to, enter, move through and use the space; inclusive, enabling children of different ages, abilities and ways of playing to participate meaningfully together; and integrated, connecting play spaces to the wider neighbourhood, public realm and community.

Introducing the emerging National Festival of Play, a major multi-arts celebration in Crawley exploring play as connection, placemaking and possibility.

This panel session will look ahead to the next phase of implementation, including the transition from the updated National Occupational Standards (NOS) towards professional standards and stronger recognition and more sustainable workforce pathways, while protecting the distinct identity, values and principles of playwork.

Drawing on lived experience and the visible occupation of public space, Rasta Rolla will explore what happens when people use streets in unexpected, playful and expressive ways, and what this tells us about who feels welcome, accepted and free to belong there.

This panel will explore what it takes to create the conditions for play across the different settings and experiences of children’s lives, from neighbourhoods and public space to schools, healthcare, digital environments and the places and products designed for play.

Professor Helen Dodd launches the University of Exeter Outdoor Play Research Centre.

What role does play have in coaching? In this session, Heather will explore how a child-first approach can create more positive sporting experiences, looking at the importance of choice, the connection between play and learning, and what children and parents are telling us about play in sport today.

Free to Play UK is a new five-year, UK-wide initiative from UK Community Foundations, backed by £9.3 million of initial investment and working through 20 community foundations. Focused on outdoor, child-directed and adventurous play, the programme is being designed as a systems-change initiative rather than a traditional grants fund.
This session will introduce the emerging programme and the learning shaping its development, including the importance of playwork and workforce development, inclusion, children’s lived experience, local capacity, spatial justice and culture change.

Eugene Minogue and Richard Shaw draw together the day’s themes and outline what happens next.