’PlayingOut’, the holiday play scheme of children’s charity ’Isle of Play’ has been attended by 2,400 children over the Easter and February school holidays.

Travelling around the island, the Isle of Play team - armed with a van full of ropes, bikes, paints, hammers and nails - have worked to give children the kind of opportunities to play that have all but disappeared from many of our communities.

Chris Gregory, chief executive of Isle of Play, said: ’It’s been a crazy few weeks. We were visited by so many new and familiar faces, that it’s hard to feel anything other than pride that so many children and families see the value in what we’re providing.

’Too often our parks and play spaces are devoid of the sound of children playing. To see and hear them teeming with hundreds of children is remarkable and something we are working to restore back to the island.’

Chris thanked Manx Gas for its support over the past year.

’None of this would have been possible had it not been for the help of Manx Gas,’ he said.

’We’ve seen over 11,000 children attend PlayingOut and our other projects and had it not been for Manx Gas I’m not sure we would be here today.

’We also owe a debt of thanks to all our amazing volunteers, who come out with us or work behind the scenes to keep everything ticking while the children are climbing trees and playing the way nature intended them to.’

To find out more about Isle of Play visit www.isleofplay.im or search Isle of Play through Facebook and social media.