TORONTO, June 11, 2015 /CNW/ - Opportunities to increase children's outdoor play will receive a $1.5 million dollar boost with new funding announced today. The Lawson Foundation will award grants to registered charitable organizations across Canada for projects ranging from one to three years.
"Children's play is in decline and that's a public health problem. Kids actually need unstructured outdoor play – play that includes taking risks – because we know that this is important for their healthy development," says Marcel Lauzière, President & CEO of the Lawson Foundation. The new funding opportunity aims to better understand how to support Canadian communities to foster children's opportunities for unstructured outdoor play. "We are interested in engaging with organizations that have great ideas about how to deliver community programs and services, as well as with those that are interested in public policy and in research that focuses on unstructured outdoor play."
The recently released 2015 ParticipACTION Report Card on Physical Activity for Children and Youth features a Position Statement on Active Outdoor Play that includes recommendations to increase children's opportunities for self-directed play outdoors in all settings – at home, at school, in child care, the community and nature. The Lawson Foundation supported the research and development of the Position Statement and will now invest in putting the recommendations into action through this Canada-wide funding call.
To learn more about the Active Outdoor Play funding call, please visit: http://lawson.ca/activeoutdoorplay/
The Lawson Foundation is a national family foundation with a mission to invest in and engage with ideas, people and organizations that contribute to healthy outcomes of Canadians throughout their life course. Its overall focus is on the well-being of children and youth and it invests in three inter-related strategic areas that they believe will have a significant impact on young people's healthy development: early child development, healthy active living, and a new area of interest, children and the environment. www.lawson.ca | Strategic Direction
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SOURCE The Lawson Foundation
Image with caption: "Lawson Foundation Active Outdoor Play Funding Call (CNW Group/The Lawson Foundation)". Image available at: http://photos.newswire.ca/images/download/20150611_C6964_PHOTO_EN_17913.jpg
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