Free to Play UK
Outdoor play builds confidence and friendships and is essential to a joyful childhood. When asked, children consistently identify play as one of the most important parts of their lives. However, as the evidence supporting adventurous, child-led outdoor play grows, children are spending less time playing outdoors. Free to Play UK recognises play as a right, and acknowledges its importance for health and resilience.
A place-based approach
Free to Play UK takes a whole-system approach, mapping the opportunities and barriers affecting play in each place and designing a local response, whilst also tracking and sharing national insights for policy influence and advocacy.
The initiative has an initial programme value of more than £9.3 million and brings together 20 community foundations, with local programmes expected to open in spring 2027.
Community foundations will work with children, families, local organisations, schools, councils and other partners to understand what makes free play possible locally, and what’s stopping it. Each community foundation will shape activity around its local context, using a combination of convening, commissioning and grants. This approach aims to strengthen local leadership, build capacity and support the conditions for that enable outdoor play sustainably.
Learning across the UK and Canada
The initiative has been co-designed with funders, community foundations and the play sector itself.
Before local activity begins, community foundations in the 20 places are taking part in a dedicated learning programme. A community of practice and programme-wide learning support will continue throughout the five years.
UK Community Foundations will collate and disseminate UK-wide insight, as well as overseeing national convening and advocacy. Renaisi will support learning across the programme, with guidance from Play England, Play Scotland and Play Wales, Professor Helen Dodd and the Research Centre for Outdoor Play, and Dr Naomi Scott, alongside other play experts.
Free to Play UK will also learn alongside our sister programme in Canada, where 22 places are already delivering an outdoor play initiative along the same principles. This cross-border relationship provides a unique opportunity to share experience, evidence and practice as both programmes develop.
Working with funding partners
The initial funding provides a strong foundation, but the scale of the opportunity is greater than any one funder can support alone.
We are inviting funding partners to help strengthen and extend the initiative while preserving its flexible, locally led approach.
Download our one page summary here
An invitation to co-invest
If your organisation is interested in children, communities or the places where children grow up, speak with our Partnerships and Insight team about collaborating.