Dr Shani Dhanda

‘Give children the chance to play’ – national UK play organisations join forces to demand action - Child in the City ‘Playday’ in the UK – held on 7 August – was an opportunity for the four national play organisations to urge policymakers to deliver on a child’s right to play. As thousands of children and young people came together to celebrate play at local and regional events, the four leading play organisations said that the formation a new UK government provides is a ‘timely opportunity to highlight the need for a renewed commitment to play at all levels across society’. In a joint call Play England, PLAY WALES / CHWARAE CYMRU, Play Scotland and PlayBoard NI said that despite there being robust evidence highlighting the multiple benefits of play, it is an issue that governments have ‘consistently overlooked’. ‘Urgent action’, they added, was now required in order to ensure that children and young people able to fully realise their right to play. Eugene Minogue, Executive Director at Play England said: “Playday provides us with an important and timely reminder of the cultural value of play! Ask adults what they loved most about being a kid, and their mind is likely to drift back to the games they played with other children. Some of the best childhood memories are rooted in long summer days playing games outside, many culturally unique to the UK – such as kerby, headers and volleys, hopscotch, bulldog, skipping and many more! “However, children today are experiencing many barriers to play. As their freedom and opportunities to play have declined, so has their physical and mental health as a result. It is therefore vitally important that the new government urgently address the decline in children’s play over recent decades. We need to give children their childhood back! That’s why we are calling for the introduction of play sufficiency legislation and development of a new national play strategy in England.” ⤵️ https://lnkd.in/gWCHVGSR Together, with Government we can deliver transformational change and secure a legacy for our future generations by giving children their childhood back! Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government - Legacy Department for Culture, Media and Sport Department for Education Department of Health and Social Care Department for Transport (DfT), United Kingdom 10 Downing Street 🏫🚸🌿🍁🍂🪵 🚲 🛴 🛹🛼 🛝 🏃🏼‍♂️🏃🏼‍♀️🏃🏾👩‍🦽🚴🏿🚏🚶🏻🤸🏾‍♂️🤸🏼‍♂️🌳🏘️ #PlaySufficiency #NationalPlayStrategy #RaisingTheNation #PlayCommission #PhysicalLiteracy #PhysicalActivity #PlayStreet #SchoolStreets #StreetPlay #HomeZones #Playgrounds #Parks #FreerangeUrbanNeighbourhoods #FUN #Playces #Splace #KnowBallGames #FreePlay #UNCRC #Article31

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Dear Sir Keir Starmer, I have heard JESSICA Phillips describe the domestic abuse sector as an eco system without which Westminster cannot do its job. Labour Party (UK) Manifesto stated halving violence against women and girls and making our streets safer. You also wish to grow the UK economy & make fiscal savings. We need you to listen to the eco system which will enable you to fulfill these mission led statements. It is clear, whether that's via The Police Foundation (UK) think tank or on BBC Politics Live that, to date, you have no clear policies on how to achieve your party manifesto pledges. My personal views: 1) we need to make our homes and workplaces safe first and foremost. This is where most of these violent crimes occur. 2) though still included, domestic abuse needs to be brought back onto the VAWG map. 3) while VAWG absolutely has to be tackled, we need ALL the children, and other victims, to be included in any policies and messaging. Without this sector, who are critically under invested and at the brink of collapse themselves, not only this eco system but possibly society itself will collapse. We have no functioning CJS. It will take many years to fix this. In the meantime, people are dying, including children, on a massive scale, perpetrators cost the victims & UK economy £78 billion py & rising. Domestic abuse is also one of if not the biggest health crisis we are currently facing, again costing billions. It also impacts every government department and their spending. Can I suggest you continue to listen to and enact the recommendations of the likes of: Broxtowe Women's Project, a grass roots, holistic broad ranging victim family support DA organisation both historical and at crisis point Employers' Initiative on Domestic Abuse , a substantial and fast growing organisation of UK businesses- large, global and small independents with political and other leaders past and present on its Advisory Council. and Surviving Economic Abuse (SEA), yet another formidable organisation, as above, of support, change making, law making, research and action taking, including in the business sector particularly the UK financial services to directly inform your governments policies in order to achieve your aims. They, alongside other organisations including by & for who you may also want to include, also bring with them the experience and voices of those, living or dead, who need you to listen and take affirmative action. With regards, Samantha Beckinsale #socialrevolution #domesticabuse #vawg Broxtowe Women's Project Employers' Initiative on Domestic Abuse Surviving Economic Abuse (SEA) Elizabeth Filkin Susan Bright Colette Byrne Sam Smethers Dr Nicola Sharp-Jeffs OBE, CF, FRSA Nicole Jacobs Rick Muir Public Policy Exchange Emma Storey IRISi Interventions Carrie Bower Age UK Saba Ali FRSA Richard Port MBE Rachel Horman-Brown Sema Gornall UK Home Office Meena Kumari Suhkvinder Kaur Dame Inga Beale

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Are we paying enough attention to our "new social infrastructure"? This panel with Dan Gregory, Ajaye Hunn-Phillips of Project PT and Matt Leach of Local Trust was one of my favourites of the Stir to Action festival in Bristol today. Dan is one of the UK's leading thinkers on social infrastructure, and we have a shared obsession with expanding the category beyond the classic Victorian institutions like pubs and libraries to include soft play centres🤾‍♂️, trampoline parks 🦘, taprooms 🍺, bowling alleys 🎳 , and even saunas 🧖‍♀️. Shared spaces are the unsung heroes of social action and cohesion, especially in deprived areas - Matt provided some sobering data about the difference in outcomes between deprived areas WITH social infrastructure and those without. Local Trust's own research found that, when people living in such areas were asked what they wanted for their places, people prioritised "places to meet and do stuff" above jobs. Ajaye's story of creating a "gym for people who don't go to the gym" built around the values of kindness and inclusion was a reminder of how important it can be to have skilled and empathetic people tending to these spaces, regardless of ownership model (think of the difference a good librarian makes to a library) 🏋️📚 As Dan noted, much of our "new" social infrastructure is privately owned and costs a little bit of money to participate (not unlike a pub or cinema, but unlike a library or youth centre). This is not necessarily a problem at the individual level - as Ajaye stressed, not every space can completely include everyone - but it should nudge us to at least take the social value of these places seriously, with all of the questions about sustainability, inclusion, ownership and community control that this entails. There's also an important opportunity for forward-thinking local authorities and community foundations to map and understand local social infrastructure ( Bennett Institute for Public Policy has been doing great work around this). This could draw on asset-based community development (ABCD) approaches, but with a specific focus on which physical assets support social interaction, who interacts with them, and - critically - how those interactions and attachments overlap. Not every bit of social infrastructure can include everyone equally, but perhaps if you have the right mosaic - spaces to bond with the like-minded, alongside places to meet across difference - you have a recipe for happy, resilient and successful places. If you're interested in funding this kind of work, get in touch with Dan!

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THIS IS A THREAD! 🧵absolutely welcome Labour Party (UK) and Keir Starmers Safer Streets and Anti-social Behaviour as one of their top 5 key pledges. https://lnkd.in/e8qvfs7q Indeed, as a woman, even as an older woman, the idea that I would be able to safely just walk, on my own, in the dark from one place to another has always been and still currently is beyond my comprehension and a basic freedom I would absolutely relish! And yes, we absolutely need local bobbies and our youth clubs back. I am concerned however that the single line mention of domestic abuse is as an appendage and not a priority in ANY parties primary pledges. ''And we’ll put specialists in the court system to support rape and domestic abuse victims and ensure that justice is done.'' - Labour Party (UK) This is the only mention and there is no prevention element here. But in terms of the Antisocial Behaviour pledge specifically, I feel this is putting the cart before the horse and would like to put this out there for your thoughts. I have posted various sources prior to this one and they are worth a look for anyone who's interested anyway. To me, it's a no brainer to put Domestic Abuse as the priority, encompassing all the ensuing issues it causes society inc antisocial behaviour as one them. The facts are : Perpetrators of anti-social behaviour cost us £11 billion per year with victims, government - CJS, NHS, social care etc, and UK plc/ businesses as primary fiscal burden bearers. Perpetrators of Domestic abuse cost us £72 billion per year (as of 2022, up from £66 billion in 2019 - HO report) with victims, government - CJS, NHS, social care etc, and UKplc / businesses as primary fiscal burden bearers. Women's Aid Federation of England have stated in their manifesto that for every £1 invested by government, £9 would be saved by HM Treasury High levels of psychological, emotional, social and physical health impacts on victims of antisocial behaviour - men, women and children in all societal strata, ethnicity, ages etc - are evidenced. High levels of psychological, emotional, social and physical health impacts victims of domestic abuse - men, women and children in all societal strata, ethnicity, ages etc but predominantly women and children - are evidenced. One in 7 adult males and one in four adult females will be a victim of domestic abuse in their lifetime (ONS Figures 2022/23) Children of these adults, and there can be/are many, have only recently been acknowledged as victims of domestic abuse in their own right and the direct impacts on and outcomes for them are only just beginning to be considered. THREAD🧵continues in comments 👇 Broxtowe Women's Project Surviving Economic Abuse (SEA) Employers' Initiative on Domestic Abuse 3PB Barristers Crown Prosecution Service Mayor's Office for Policing And Crime (MOPAC) Metropolitan Police Avon and Somerset Police NSPCC Refuge Respect UK @mankind

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Can you help? Are you a heritage sector organisation? Do you have a good story to tell about how you recruit, retain and support your trustees? Then we are looking for you…   Historic England recently published this report on the Barriers and Enablers to Board Diversity in the Heritage sector https://lnkd.in/e4CPWtZ7 One of the recommendations is to develop some case studies on Board diversity. I am thrilled to report Getting On Board have now been commissioned to produce case-studies that exemplify good practice in the sector.     We are now looking for Heritage organisations that are willing to be interviewed for a written casestudy. So have you got a story to tell about:   Recruiting trustees: 🎯 Good practice in recruiting board members 🎯How you have reached out to, listened to and recruited more diverse board members 🎯How you have gone about developing inclusive board recruitment marketing and promotional materials 🎯The benefits you offer Board members and how these are communicated to potential board members 🎯What is good heritage Board practice in terms of process around term length and succession planning      Retaining trustees: 🎯How you retain board members 🎯How you onboard board members 🎯 Setting up a shadow board, shadowing programme or trainee board member placements   Supporting Inclusion, diversity and equity 🎯How you embed Inclusion, diversity and equity as a priority without putting unfair workload or emotional labour on specific Board members? 🎯 How you have made realistic commitment to Board diversity and communicated these internally and externally 🎯How you have conducted a Board diversity audit and communicated your findings in an effective and GDPR compliant way 🎯 How you have developed communication on IDE as a Board, in terms of language and content 🎯How you have effected culture change in your organisation so a diverse Board is welcome and effective   Providing on-going Board training and support 🎯 How you have supported your Board members through tough times of challenge and change 🎯 How you have dealt with trolling and negative press as a heritage Board and individual Board member 🎯How you have reported specific issues of online harassment, racism, homophobia, and other hate speech   Supporting your workforce to get governance experience. 🎯How you have made it possible for your staff to sit on Boards of other organisations, and what benefits this brings you? Clearly these topics will over-lap – but if any of the above resonates with you please get in touch or if you know of a heritage sector organisation that you think has a good story to tell please tag them in the comments!   #trustees #governance #heritagesector #inclusion #diversity #equity

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