Early Years Scotland has launched ‘Everything to Play For’, a campaign to celebrate the role of playgroups in Scotland’s communities, raise awareness of the issues that are causing many of them to struggle to survive, and to encourage volunteers to offer their time and expertise to assist groups’ management committees.

Eliza Scoffield, Early Years Scotland’s Membership and Business Support Manager, said: “Almost every town and village in Scotland will have a playgroup, run on a voluntary basis by local parents. Many of these groups have been fixtures in their communities for decades, in some cases over 50 years, and different generations of local families have benefited from the invaluable play and learning experiences they provide.

“Changes to childcare provision in recent years has meant that, although playgroups are still very much a vital service, the tasks involved in running the groups have become too much for parent run committees to take on alone.

“It might not be obvious to people how they could help, but someone with experience in HR, for example, could advise on employment matters, or someone, a retired person perhaps, from an accountancy background could help with the playgroup’s finances. There are a variety of ways you could support a playgroup. The groups would be delighted with the help, and what better way of volunteering some of your time than ultimately helping the very youngest members of your community.”

If you would like to find out more, and register your interest in volunteering to help a playgroup, click here.