By Helen Griffiths, Chief Executive of Fields in Trust
Today, the world's eyes turn to the World Cup. Today is also UNICEF’s International Day of Play and the timing could not be more powerful. This year’s theme, Protect Play, Protect Childhood, is a reminder that happy, healthy childhoods are built on play – a right enshrined in Article 31 of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. And nobody understands that better than Jill Scott - World Cup footballer, Euros winner, and President of Fields in Trust - who began her journey not in an elite academy, but on a playing field in Sunderland.
"My local park gave me everything," Jill says. "Without it, I wouldn't be where I am today."
The current Three Lions and Lionesses tell the same story. They were not made in elite academies or expensive training facilities. They were made on community pitches and local parks - exactly the kinds of spaces Fields in Trust has spent a century fighting to protect. We know that without these spaces, communities will suffer. Children will have nowhere to play – particularly in heavily urbanised areas – social cohesion will decrease, and grassroots sports clubs, which provide a wealth of opportunities to young people and have springboarded the careers of many of Britain’s leading sports stars, will cease to exist. The importance of accessible green spaces for sport and play in today’s communities cannot be underestimated.
But in Britain today, that foundation is crumbling.
Our Green Space Index, the most comprehensive annual audit of park and playing field access in the UK, has previously revealed that half of Britain live more than a 10-minute walk away from their nearest playing field. Since the pandemic, over 220 green spaces have been converted to grey. Meanwhile, 1 in 3 children under 9 do not have a playground within a 10-minute walk of home.
Play builds creativity, resilience, and social skills, laying the groundwork for lifelong learning and wellbeing. But as UNICEF warns, in too many communities children’s access to free, unstructured play is shrinking as public spaces become unsafe, inaccessible, or disappear entirely. In Britain, we are living that warning in real time. When just 15% of the UK’s population lives near a Fields in Trust protected green space, it is clear that something has gone seriously wrong, and that increased intervention is urgently required.
The economic case for acting is equally compelling. Parks and green spaces provide over £34 billion in health and mental wellbeing benefits annually, saving the NHS £111 million each year - the equivalent of the salaries of 3,500 nurses. Welcoming green spaces combat loneliness, support mental health, and give children somewhere safe away from the pressures they face at home and online. In an age of rising screen time, they are one of the few places young people are reliably drawn away from their devices. These are not nice-to-haves. They are essential infrastructure.
And yet, parks and playing fields are not a statutory service. Most people assume they are protected. They are not. Worse, the protections that do exist are now under threat. The current Planning Reforms being consulted on by the Government propose removing Sport England - the body responsible for growing grassroots sport - from its statutory consultee role, a status that has historically helped protect or improve facilities in 94% of relevant planning applications. Everchanging planning policy highlights the urgent need for the independent legal protection of our treasured community green spaces to become the standard, while layers of scrutiny such as Sport England’s role must be kept in place.
Fields in Trust supports the Government’s ambition to build 1.5 million new homes by 2030. But while we recognise the need for new affordable housing in England, this absolutely must not come at the expense of accessible green spaces that are essential to the health and wellbeing of local communities. Green space and play provision can slot harmoniously into plans for sustainable housing developments, as shown by our widely used Standards. With the necessary political will, we can build spaces that enable healthy communities to thrive.
The Government must maintain Sport England's statutory consultee role and go further, making quality green space a legal requirement in every new housing development. The public already recognises the stakes involved. According to YouGov polling in 2026, 86% of adults believe that new housing developments should be legally required to include accessible green space. It is time that we listened.
This is not just a planning issue. It is a question of justice, of equality, and of what kind of childhood we are prepared to guarantee every child in this country, regardless of where they grow up.
Over the coming weeks, the World Cup will ignite a passion for football in children across the nation who will seek to emulate the stars they see on screen. But, as any child would tell you, they don't need stadiums, expensive boots, or a chorus of chanting fans. They need somewhere to play. Our future Three Lions and Lionesses are out there right now, honing their skills in local parks and community fields. The next Olympic champion, or simply the next child who needs somewhere safe to run, kick, and dream - they are counting on us.
Protect play. Protect childhood. Protect the spaces that make both possible. The Government has the power to make that protection permanent. It should use it.