Haringey Play Association supports children’s right to play. Improving children's health & well-being.
Childhood lays the groundwork of who we become as adults. When we look back we realise those precious years may host some of our most care-free and inspired memories. It's where it all begins... it's where we dreamt of becoming who we are or who we can be.... Times have changed, children now spend time behind screens and going to structure clubs. Children are impacted by cars, adult fears & pressure and other limitations which prevents them from playing out independently. Haringey Play Association offers free-of-charge, supervised outdoor play sessions. Children need to play, they need to choose what they want to do with their free-time and the families need to be assured that they are playing in a safe place. That's what we offer.
Somerford Grove Adventure Playground is our base and we deliver many of our sessions and provisions from here as well as outreach projects across the Haringey.
We assert that play is essential to every child’s life, a biological need which is vital for children’s development as well as a right enshrined in Article 31 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child.
We follow the Playwork Principles which describe play as “what children and young people do when they follow their own ideas and interests, in their own way, and for their own reasons.” We are committed to promoting children’s agency and providing spaces and opportunities where they are free to be children and make their own decisions without unnecessary adult interference.
Our services are entirely free at the point of use and we embrace the diversity of our community.