Monmouthshire County Council is to provide community-based open access play schemes for children aged 5 to 11 in eight locations across the county during the summer holidays.  They will run every weekday from Monday 1st August until Thursday 25th August.  Parents or carers must accompany their child on the first day they attend to register their place and all children under eight must be delivered and collected by a responsible adult.  The schemes are free of charge and children may use more than one site.

Children will be free to undertake any available play activity and will be unrestricted in their movements apart from where limited by safety concerns.  These schemes provide supervised play opportunities for children in the absence of parents or carers but organisers are keen to state that they do not constitute formal childcare provision.

 The schemes will operate at:

• Abergavenny Youth Centre from 10am to 12noon

• Deri View Primary School, Abergavenny from 1pm to 3pm

• Kymin View Primary School, Monmouth from 10am to 12noon

• Monmouth Sportsground pavilion from 1pm to 3pm

• Bulwark Community Centre, Chepstow from 10am to 12noon

• Thornwell Primary School, Chepstow from 1pm to 3pm

• Magor Primary School from 10am to 12noon

• Caldicot Rugby Club from 1.30 to 3.30pm

 Monmouthshire’s cabinet member with responsibility for play schemes, Councillor Liz Hacket Pain said: “The council is keen to promote these activities to encourage well-being and these schemes contribute to a healthy lifestyle as well as allowing children to socialise.”

 The open access play schemes are being delivered by the Torfaen Play Service on behalf of the county council, with financial support from the town councils of Abergavenny, Monmouth, Caldicot and Chepstow and a number of community councils as well as funding from the Welsh Government’s Families First Programme.

 For more information, including access to support to attend the open access play schemes, parents and carers of children should contact Andrea Sysum of the Torfaen Play Service - [email protected] – telephone 01495 742951 or 07980 695717.