As the back-to-school season approaches, we need your support to continue bringing play and learning to children denied their right to an education. In this month's newsletter, learn more about how you can support us to keep playing and read about what we got up to in July.

Childhood should be full of play and learning - in fact, they're fundamental rights recognised in international law. Yet children on the France-UK border are denied access to school and safe spaces to play. We will continue to facilitate safe spaces for children on the UK-France border to play, grow and be themselves, and we will continue to fight for our service not to be needed.

Thanks to your support in our Winter Appeal, we've been able to facilitate 118 play sessions between January and July this year. We want to keep playing - but we can't do it without you. If you'd like to support us, there's lots of ways to get involved:

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Donate

Any amount big or small helps us keep playing.

If you're able to, please consider donating via our JustGiving page!

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Fundraise

If you fancy taking on a challenge this autumn or winter, why not raise some funds for Project Play in the process? We'd love to support you with your fundraiser - drop an email to: fundraising@project-play.org.

Last year, our ground team scooted, skipped and hula-hooped the distance between Calais and Dover on some of our kids transport toys. Backs were strained, funny looks were gained, and funds were raised!

Looking for inspiration? There's some truly amazing people doing pretty epic things for Project Play - keep an eye on our socials for some shout outs, and if you're doing something please tell us about it!

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Engage

We advocate for children’s rights and strive to draw attention to the hostile policies that impact on the lives of children we work with. Help us raise awareness by following us on social media, engaging with our partners at Calais Appeal, and sharing our posts.

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Speak Up

Your voice is important. Signing petitions, writing to your representatives and engaging in conversations is a vital way to show support. We've compiled a list of ideas to help you take action:

*We're updating this regularly for both people in the UK, France and elsewhere - so keep checking back! And if you come across useful resources, let us know - drop us an email on advocacy@project-play.org.

And, if you haven't already, make sure to sign the petition urging France to accept UN recommendations and ensure safe water access for all displaced people in northern France. Can you help us get to 3,000 signatures this week? Click HERE.

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Join Our Team!

We're always on the look out for people to join our team. Do you have experience working with children, are over 19, and passionate about every child's right to play? If you're able to commit at least two months to working with us in northern France, we'd love to hear from you. Click here to find out more.

Service Updates

In July, we facilitated 70.6 hours of play across 30 sessions, working with at least 114 children.

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Space, Stories, Rain and Shine!

Our themed activities took us on quite the journey last month: from creating our own gooey space slime to exploring colour and water in a wonderful rainbow experiment. We were also delighted to welcome back our friends from Changing Stories for a magical week of story telling fun.

Clockwise from top left: Changing Stories, rainbow experiments, space goo and prop-painting!

Click to read our activities report in full:

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Observations from the Ground

The relentless pursuit of increasingly hostile border policies by both the UK and France prevents children from accessing their fundamental rights. This month, we've documented the impact of family separation and challenges to family reunification in the UK, as well as risks to emotional wellbeing.

Click below to read our infographic in full. Interested to learn more, or take action? Check out our website page below for some useful resources and ideas of how to speak up and engage. Your voice matters!

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Thank you for your support!