Wendy Russell
@wendyrussell.bsky.social
700 followers 840 following 150 posts
She/her. Researcher, evaluator & consultant on children's play and playwork, mostly geography and philosophy. Focus on the politics of space for children. Based in Nottingham, Senior Research Fellow at Uni of Gloucestershire, UK #SpatialJustice
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wendyrussell.bsky.social
Great thread here from @alisonstenning.bsky.social on the case for paying attention to children's capability to play during #Covid19 lockdowns, including a couple of articles we wrote based on our research. So pleased @aliceferguson.bsky.social gave evidence on this to the Covid Inquiry
alisonstenning.bsky.social
Good that the Covid Inquiry is hearing about play, that it’s not just a nice to have, that it’s essential to childhood, for fun, that it’s how children exercise, that public play is unevenly policed, and that children’s right to play should have been upheld in lockdown.

@playingout.bsky.social
Covid exercise messaging left children stuck indoors, UK inquiry hears
Children not allowed out partly because their exercise – playing – looked too much ‘like fun’, says campaigner
www.theguardian.com
Reposted by Wendy Russell
playengland.bsky.social
🚨 We’re Recruiting: Independent Chair, Senior Independent Director & Independent Director 🚨

Help lead our bold, new 10-year strategy #ItAllStartsWithPlay!

Find out more & apply by 23 Oct 👉 www.playengland.org.uk/newsblog/wer...

#IndependentDirectors #Chair #Trustee #CharityLeadership
wendyrussell.bsky.social
The parallels are fascinating. There are different issues with the digital world & digital play, as there are with public space & designated play spaces. But I'd say the profit motive affects all four as do (linked) narratives of fear (sometimes valid in complex ways).
wendyrussell.bsky.social
Thank you @bsky.app for the bookmarking option!!
wendyrussell.bsky.social
What do you see as the barriers?
wendyrussell.bsky.social
Happy reading. I'd love to know what you think.
Reposted by Wendy Russell
alisonstenning.bsky.social
The swinging children appears again as an illustration to a piece about child poverty -
A screenshot of a post including a Guardian article about child poverty, illustrated by a silhouetted picture of children swinging
wendyrussell.bsky.social
This is an inteesting study, thanks. While the authors differentiate 'physical activity' and PE, much of the focus is on PE. There is a lot that can be done looking at how the school supports play during breaks.
outdoorplayandlearning.org.uk
@opal-cic.bsky.social
Reposted by Wendy Russell
britishelectionstudy.com
🚨New Research 🚨

Ahead of the release of Wave 30 of the BES Internet Panel, the team has examined Labour's decline since the 2024 GE.

Labour's support has splintered into mostly indecision or left-liberal parties, but they've also lost their few right-wing voters.

🧵⬇️

tinyurl.com/3m62exph
Looking for Labour’s lost voters - The British Election Study
www.britishelectionstudy.com
wendyrussell.bsky.social
Thanks for this overview, it's useful. I get this is an analysis of *main* policy areas, but there's a lot missing from this contents list that can feed into the *main* issues, particularly in terms of children's and families' lives, health and wellbeing. #SocialInfrastructure #SpatialJustice
wendyrussell.bsky.social
Interesting read. But we need to think further upstream from MH services. The decline in children's mental health over the last decade coincides with the decimation of play and youth services. If we're really looking at multiple approaches to prevention, let's fund them
pbe.co.uk
PBE @pbe.co.uk · Aug 19
📢 The £51bn case for improving children’s mental health

1 in 5 UK children aged 8–16 likely have a probable mental health condition (NHS Digital, 2023). Yet only 36% referred to NHS services are seen within 4 weeks. Thousands wait over 2 years. 1/5

New report: pbe.co.uk/publications...
A line chart of the average SDQ of children in the UK between 2011/12 and 2021/22, according to Understanding Society data. It shows that, for selected ages 5, 8, 11 and 14, average SDQ levels have increased over this time, meaning worse children's mental health.
wendyrussell.bsky.social
"It is no longer viable—or even desirable—to manage by prescribing fixed end‑states...What matters instead is cultivating the conditions under which coherent, desirable futures can emerge from within the system itself".
substack.com/inbox/post/1...
Outcomes & Systems: From Predicted Goods to Emergent Cohesion
Critical summary – the single through‑line of the essay
substack.com
wendyrussell.bsky.social
Totally agree with this - creating conditions for safe active travel is a political endeavour and includes challenging the power of the road and car industries, including the myth of EVs role in reaching net zero
healthtepi.bsky.social
🚨New Paper Alert: Physical activity has enemies.

🚶‍♀️ 🌳 To sharpen advocacy, we need to know who our enemies are and how they operate.

DOI: lnkd.in/gf8E9fZb

🙏 @jpahjournal.bsky.social and coauthor team @joeyjmurphy.bsky.social @benjaminrigby.bsky.social @grantennis.bsky.social
LinkedIn
This link will take you to a page that’s not on LinkedIn
lnkd.in
Reposted by Wendy Russell
clpn.bsky.social
We've created a detailed list of 139 films on childhood, which can be used for teaching these subjects:

www.qmul.ac.uk/clpn/media/c...
wendyrussell.bsky.social
Do you know why he wanted it zapped?
wendyrussell.bsky.social
Yes. Let's hope it gets through this time.
wendyrussell.bsky.social
... which means thinking about traffic infrastructure (where moving and parked cars go, public transport...) and the ways all ages move through public space.
Reposted by Wendy Russell
geekdadgamer.bsky.social
DEEP BREATH: 5 years of meticulously researched game data culminate for us on National Play Day, Weds 6th Aug.

🤯We realised game discovery was broken.
🧪We made a prototype game-finder.
🎯We Kickstartered it into reality.
🥘We cooked with our backers.
🚀We launch Ludocene.com into the world on 6th Aug.
Ludocene game-finder run with Stretchmancer current suggestion. Ludocene game-finder run with PinOut current suggestion. Ludocene game-finder run with Frog Detective current suggestion. Ludocene game-finder run with Hyperbolica current suggestion.
wendyrussell.bsky.social
I'm looking forward to reading this, whay a treat - an open access too! Thank you to all involved
clpn.bsky.social
We're delighted to interview our members, Valeria Llobet, Didier Reynaert, Afua Twum-Danso Imoh, and Wouter Vandenhole, about their edited collection, Critical Children’s Rights Studies: A Research Companion:

www.qmul.ac.uk/clpn/news-vi...