Photo credit: Decathlon
The London Marathon Foundation is working in partnership with ParkPlay to help less active families become more active, connect with their communities and have fun together in parks and green spaces.
This partnership is being announced during Love Parks Week, the annual campaign celebrating parks and green spaces and the positive impact they have on the health and wellbeing of communities across the UK.
Too many children and families face barriers to being active, particularly in underserved communities where access to free, inclusive opportunities can be limited. ParkPlay is helping to address this by transforming local parks into welcoming and safe spaces where families can play, move and connect for free every week.
Launched in 2021, ParkPlay is a charity building healthier communities through the power of play. Local volunteers are at the heart of its work and receive training to organise free games and activities, creating regular opportunities for people of all ages and abilities to take part. Since launching, ParkPlay has established sessions in more than 100 locations, resulting in more than 115,000 attendances, with two-thirds of participants living in the 40% most deprived communities in England.
The partnership closely aligns with our vision to inspire activity for the least active children, young people and underserved communities. Following a smaller funding award in 2025 that helped sustain ParkPlay’s activities through the winter, we’ve committed a further £192,000 over 12 months to strengthen the charity’s operations, enhance its volunteering model and support its long-term sustainability.
Rick Jenner, CEO of ParkPlay, said: “ParkPlay exists to build happier, healthier communities through the simple power of play, and that matters most in places facing the biggest barriers to being active. The London Marathon Foundation's support is helping us strengthen ParkPlay on the ground – providing more local support in the regions that need it most, better marketing so families know we're there, and the foundations for a more sustainable charity for the long term – to help many more children and families in disadvantaged communities discover the benefits of free, weekly play in the years ahead."
Mike Diaper, Group Funding and Impact Director at the London Marathon Foundation said: “Play is the first step in helping children develop healthy, active habits that can last a lifetime. Yet too many children and families, particularly in underserved communities, don't have access to welcoming, affordable opportunities to be active together.
“By supporting ParkPlay, we can help bring families together in local parks every week, so more people have free opportunities to get active and stay active – building happier, healthier, more connected communities across the country.”
