Attached below is my submission to the Play Commission (https://lnkd.in/eiw4qmch) about MUGAs (a.k.a. cages, ball courts) as important play spaces.
A few key points from the submission, based on four research reports & papers:
➡️ MUGAs are massively important play spaces for many young people, especially in places like Hackney, which has 50+ MUGAs.
➡️ Even very rudimentary MUGAs can be valuable social infrastructure for young people, particularly when they're based on estates, and especially when young people feel a strong sense of ownership over them and belonging within them.
➡️ MUGAs are often most valued by young people who feel unwelcome in or excluded from other public spaces. "Their" MUGA can feel like one of the only places in the city which is "for them".
➡️ MUGAs are too often insufficiently inclusive and accessible. In particular, girls and disabled people are too often insufficiently catered for in the design and activation of MUGAs. That said, many grassroots sports orgs & youth services do brilliant work maximising their inclusiveness.
➡️ MUGAs should never be treated as a "catch-all Answer" to young people's play needs: they should be part of a mixed ecosystem of play provision in neighbourhoods which meet the needs of different age groups.
➡️ MUGAs can be important places of safety for young people, though can also be sites of harm. Careful consideration needs to be given to how to maximise their safety.
➡️ Estate-based MUGAs in particular are too often stereotyped or stigmatised in deeply classed and racialised ways, e.g. by association with discriminatory notions like "sink estates".
➡️ MUGAs come in all different shapes and sizes, can play a variety of roles within neighbourhoods, and can contribute to significant policy priorities, e.g. tackling childhood obesity; contextual safeguarding; early help; 15 minute neighbourhoods; trusted adults & relational practice, etc.
If you have insights or evidence about play, the Commission is accepting submissions until 31st October. All info here: https://lnkd.in/eiw4qmch
Eugene Minogue Tim Gill Kadra Abdinasir Dinah Bornat StreetGames UK Centre for Young Lives Anne Longfield CBE Connie Muttock Anne-Marie Canning MBE Ceylon Andi Hickman James Reeves Football Beyond Borders Access Sport Jay Kinyera