Everybody gets to play is a Canada-wide initiative led by the Canadian Parks and Recreation Association (CPRA) to improve the quality of life of Canadian children in low-income families by making recreation more accessible.
Recreation is essential to the physical, emotional and social development of children. It can improve their health, self-esteem and academic performance. Recreation for children can improve family relationships and ease pressures within families. Facilities and green spaces can be a source of community pride and recreation programs can bring people together and encourage them to volunteer.
Research shows that children in low-income families are far less involved in recreational pursuits than their peers in families with average and above average incomes. Many barriers stand in their way and increasing their participation means reducing those barriers.
Making sure that children have fair access to recreation is part of a national and global commitment. Canada endorsed the 1989 United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, which says that "The child has the right to rest and leisure . play and recreational activities."
Canada's National Children's Agenda also states that "As a nation, we aspire to have children who are as physically and emotionally healthy as they can be, with strong self esteem, life skills and enthusiasm."
The initiative was developed to highlight the importance of access to recreation for everyone and to provide tools for organizations, community practitioners and volunteers interested in mobilizing their communities to provide it.
Research shows that recreation can help improve childhood development and the quality of life for families. However, low-income families and their children often face barriers that prevent them from participating in recreation.
Health Canada and the Inter-provincial Sport and Recreation Council (ISRC) recognize these barriers. In 1998 it organized a National Recreation Roundtable to develop a strategy for improving access to recreation. At the conclusion of the Roundtable, CPRA was asked to take the lead in advancing the strategy. For more information, please refer to the initiative's Everybody gets to play backgrounder online at cpra.ca
Recreation practitioners and volunteers are on the front lines of the Everybody gets to play initiative. The Everybody gets to play tools, resources and workshops were designed to help them mobilize communities to make recreation more accessible for low-income families and their children.
CPRA received support to develop Everybody gets to play from a multi-sector Task Group that was created to provide leadership for the initiative. The Task Group includes youth and representatives from educational and academic institutions, organizations that serve children and youth, and the parks and recreation sector. It also includes representatives from municipal governments and from health, crime prevention, justice and human resource development departments of federal, provincial and territorial governments.
For more information about the Everybody Gets to Play initiative go to the CPRA website cpra.ca, or contact the national office: phone (613) 523-5315; e-mail: cpra@cpra.ca www.cpra.ca
