Children, young people and adults need high quality, safe and welcoming local outdoor sport, recreation and play environments.
We are here to help communities to provide them.
OPFA’s general aim is to enable the community-based provision of good quality and accessible playing fields, playgrounds and other suitable outdoor recreation spaces and facilities, in order to facilitate opportunities for people of all ages and abilities, especially children and young people, to participate in outdoor sport, play and physical activity. OPFAs’ key objectives are to protect and enhance existing outdoor open spaces and support the provision of new facilities.
The major part of our day-to-day work is devoted to assisting local community organisations, through information and advice, training and access to financial help, to provide, preserve, improve and adequately maintain local outdoor recreational and children’s play facilities.
OPFA is the only not-for-profit organisation in the county dedicated specifically to providing a comprehensive independent playing field and children’s play space advice service for local community groups, including Parish Councils, Voluntary Playing Field Management Committees and Community Playground Committees
It must be remembered that in rural areas most of the community outdoor recreation spaces in the villages and market towns are provided and managed by the Parish or Town Council or a Playing Field charity. All but the larger Councils rely on their members or other residents, as volunteers, to carry out the work required. These volunteers are faced with the need to comply with health and safety legislation and to keep up with modern expectations and standards of provision for all ages. While larger statutory authorities are able to employ professional Officers to advise them and be responsible for day-to-day management, at parish level this is usually not possible.
We provide an on-going information, advice and support service for community recreation space managers or project groups, including information, advice and training on:
We provide regular email updates, produce a regularly updated series of practical information sheets on a range of common issues and concerns and signpost people to examples of successful projects elsewhere.
We also seek to raise awareness of the value of community recreation space and of local space managers’ needs and issues; and promote provision of external support for them by:
We aim to be alert to evidence of threats to existing community recreation spaces from development or other pressures and make representations and/ or support representation by others
Young people and adults need quality local outdoor recreation spaces. We help communities provide them. We need “new blood” to complement...
