About Us

Making Play Possible removes the economic obstacles that could prevent a child from accessing much needed physical, social, and creative opportunities.

Working with government, businesses, communities, families, and volunteers we ensure that the children and youth of Leeds-Grenville have access to recreational and athletic activities.

Together we give 350 children a year an opportunity to play team sports, dance, learn new skills, take life-saving swimming classes, learn music and other forms of self-expression. 

Recreation in Leeds-Grenville

Making Play Possible does not fund programming in our community, but we work with partners who provide and fund recreational programming. If you see a need for a recreational program, please contact us at [email protected] to discuss.

Why We Need Making Play Possible

We originated under the Children’s Mental Health of Leeds and Grenville (CMHLG) in 2004 when CMHLG first noted that many clients were unable to access extra-curricular activities, such as sports. After speaking with other agencies, government, and non-profit groups, we discovered this gap in accessing physical activities was a common concern. Making Play Possible arose from this need, but demand quickly outgrew capacity under CMHLG.

Studies show that structured recreation, including sports, artistic programs, and social clubs has significant and lasting benefits for children and youth, including improved social skills, creativity, self-esteem, academic performance, stress-management, physical health, motor skills, motivation to learn and family relationships.

A need was identified for not only a financial assistance program, but also a service where families are linked effectively with recreational facilities that can accommodate complex needs if necessary. The Making Play Possible Coordinator continues to have a clinical background in mental health prevention in order to meet this need and serve families better. 

We ensure that there is a face-to-face contact between our Coordinator and the family or individual (in the case of youth living independently) to provide informal screening of potential other needs, such as speech therapy, respite needs, or learning difficulties. This means we are able to provide information to parents on how to access these additional supports on the spot.

Families with kids participating in organized recreation are less likely to access social work, counselling, food banks, physicians, and child care services.

In Other Words: Making Play Possible helps set kids up for future success and long-term health benefits!

The Community that plays together, stays together!