Attention News Editor:

For Immediate Release: September 8, 2008

PLAY in Bruce Grey launches new website

Remember the joys of playing when you were a kid?  PLAY in Bruce Grey launched their new website www.playbrucegrey.com today to encourage Bruce and Grey County residents to get more physically active.  

The PLAY strategy was introduced in 2007 with an appearance by four-time Olympian Silken Laumann and is about unstructured play. According to Laumann, children who spend most of their time watching videos, playing on the computer, being inactive at recess and not walking to school are jeopardizing their physical development and future health.

Play is the lifeblood of childhood - it nurtures and excites creativity, it builds social skills and strengthens bodies, Laumann wrote in her book Child’s Play.

In Bruce and Grey counties only 42 percent of residents are at a healthy weight.  Moreover, just under half of residents are active or moderately active.

The Ministry of Health Promotion, Communities in Action Fund and each of the 17 Bruce/Grey municipalities contributed funding to the project. Volunteer Community Action Networks were set up in communities across the two counties to support opportunities for play.

In spring 2008, a contest was held for students to design a website. James Hill from St. Mary’s High School in Owen Sound submitted the winning design.  Also involved in the launch of the website were web designer Shelley Savill of Running Tide, web host Geoff Hogan from Grey County, and project co-ordinator Glenda Clarke.

Partners for PLAY in Bruce Grey include Grey and Bruce Counties, all 17 Grey/Bruce municipalities, Bruce Power, Owen Sound and Area Family YMCA, Bluewater District School Board, Bruce Grey Catholic District School Board and the Grey Bruce Health Unit.

So what are you waiting for? Get outside today and play!

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Attachments: Frequently Asked Questions  , PLAY Notes Newsletter  , 50 Ways to Leave your Sofa 

For more information: visit  www.playbrucegrey.com or contact:

Shawn Everitt, Chair PLAY in Bruce Grey and Director of Recreation, Town of the Blue Mountains, 519-599-3131 ext. 281