Play charity gets £50k boost to support children

Isle of Play was founded in 2018

A Manx charity has been given a £50,000 boost for a programme to support children with behavioural issues.

Isle of Play received the grant from the Manx Lottery Trust for its new Play Paths project for five to 16 year-olds.

The money will fund outdoor sessions ranging from tree climbing to cooking on an open fire over the duration of a school year.

Chris Gregory from the charity said watching young people benefit from the scheme would be "thoroughly rewarding".

Recent research from the University of Exeter found that playing and taking risks makes a "positive contribution to children's mental health and emotional wellbeing", he added.

The scheme will be delivered outdoors at either the Woodland Forest School site or the Lester's Yard adventure playground facility.

'Extremely grateful'

The scheme has been designed to help those who may have developed a wide range of behavioural and developmental issues as a result of being deprived of play and positive early childhood experiences.

The sessions would offer longer-term support than was previously available to in order to allow the children's specific needs to be addressed.

The charity said the activities, such as den building, tree climbing or playing house, would help children to build the resilience needed to manage stress in challenging circumstances.

Chairman of the trust Stephen Turner said the new project would be a "wonderful asset" to the community, which would "certainly make a long-lasting impact on the young people involved".