Jersey parents call for more children's facilities

Parents have said that a key concern ahead of the upcoming Jersey general election is a lack of activities for children on the island.

One parent, Samantha Goguelin said: "When I was a child there was so much to do but now there is hardly anything."

Other parents said that entertaining their children during winter was particularly difficult as everything is "so expensive" while others have called for more local facilities to avoid having to travel further away by car or bus.

The previous government launched a play strategy with the aim of having play areas in all parishes and Jersey's Children's Commissioner, Dr Carmel Corrigan, said it was important that these plans become a reality.

The BBC spoke to Goguelin as her son played at the new playground which opened last year in St Helier.

She said having areas to play gave children "structure" and explained that while the new playground was making a difference there still needed to be a lot more to keep children entertained.

"Since the aMaizin maze has gone and Fort Regent there is not much to do at all, you've got your public parks and then the beach, also Tinto's that's a good one but other than that there is nothing for children to do."

Goguelin's views were shared by others in the parish of St Clement, with Lydia Santos saying it was particularly difficult to find children's activities in winter.

"Let's face it, the weather in Jersey is not brilliant, so it would be nice to have somewhere children can play indoors and also with outside space as well, to have the options and also somewhere that's not too expensive because everything costs a fortune," she said.

"We've got Tinto's and that's great but something along those lines with a lot more options for young kids and big kids as well, for example I've got a six-year-old and a three-year-old so something that would benefit all ages, teenagers, young children, it would be beneficial.

"With the parks down here, there isn't much for children to do, the park down there is good but it isn't safe for young children and because there are a lot of children living in this area there should be a nice and bigger play area."

Jose Alves said: "Around this estate we don't have many things to do but if we want to go somewhere we have to take the bus or the car, there is nothing close by, it would be good to have more to do in St Clement.

"Maybe a bigger park for the kids, this park here is quite small for all the kids who live here."

Corrigan, Jersey's Children's Commissioner, said: "There is very little to do, particularly in the winter months, and there is very little to do that doesn't cost a lot of money.

"There are some good things in the play strategy, the thing now would be to implement that, make sure those facilities become reality and not in ten years but in the near future.

"I think there is a cultural issue to be addressed here which is about how much does the adult population want to see children out and about and how welcome they are in their local parks, on the beach, out in the woods, how welcome are they out there to be children and just play."

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