Celebrate World Car Free Day on Sunday, 22 September by organising a PlayStreet in your road, which will close it to traffic for a few hours to allow children to play safely and neighbours to socialise.

A PlayStreet provides you with a great chance to bring a sense of community spirit to the whole street. Everyone is welcome to come and join in – many people bring along a cup of tea or picnic and enjoy socialising with their neighbours while the children play.

Eligible street closures will be able to receive a PlayStreet kit up to the value of £50 to put towards their event. And, that is not all, because every street taking part will also be entered into a prize draw to win an on-street go-kart building session courtesy of London Play.

You have until 7 August to apply – see the bottom of this article for more details.

‘Winter, rain, or shine’

Sandra Armstrong has been running play streets on her Ealing road, Bradley Gardens, for two-and-a-half years now. She said: “It is really nice for everyone to be able to get outside. The only month we don’t run it is August, because of the holidays, but we have gone right through the winter, rain or shine and we’ve been out there stewarding with umbrellas. The children love to stay out regardless of the weather.”

‘Capture the flag’

Sandra mentioned that her children have made a lot of friends through the scheme. Jamie and Jessica, her son and daughter, said: “We were hiding flags across the road, then having to cross it to look. Because we had bases on opposite sides.”

Councillor Julian Bell, leader of Ealing Council said: “We are once again backing World Car Free Day this year and are supporting local people in setting up Playstreets across the borough. PlayStreets not only foster a great community spirit, they offer an alternative use for the borough’s roads for an afternoon – where children are able to experience the outdoors safely and local people can enjoy each other’s company.

“I encourage residents to talk to neighbours and see if their local road would benefit from becoming a PlayStreet this September.

“Encouraging more people to walk, cycle and take public transport is vital as we look to improve air quality and to address the urgent need to address the climate emergency. I hope that the Car Free Day in Ealing will help people to explore other means of transport and leave their cars at home.”

Sign up

To apply to close a street on this day please either fill out this form or email: playstreets@ealing.gov.uk with the following information by Wednesday, 7 August 2019:

• Your name
• Your full address including your postcode
• The street you wish to close for World Car Free Day
• Whether you wish to run a community street closure ie on a major road or a PlayStreet on a residential street

Streets that wish to run one-off PlayStreets will be required to run a short consultation with neighbours to demonstrate support for the initiative. 

Visit the Ealing Council website for more information.

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