With Easter and the school break almost upon us, memories of outdoor adventures and Easter egg hunts have come to mind. Consequently, I have being giving consideration to what our children will be doing during their break from school.
As the Shadow Minister for Children and Young People, I have the pleasure of sitting on the Children, Young People and Education Committee, and visit schools across the constituency I am honoured to represent. For example, I was pleased to visit Ysgol Capelulo last Friday.
One thing is true about most schools across Wales – there is a far greater use of digital technology and modern gadgets, such as I-pads, computers, and interactive whiteboard. Similarly, we cannot deny that most of our children spend a lot of their free-time playing on their X-box, play stations, and mobile phones.
An indicator of the transformation there has been in how the youngest in our society spend their time outside the classroom are the findings of a national survey. According to this 65% of children aged 3-7 were active for at least one hour every seven days a week, whilst 6% were not active at all. Concerningly, there was no significant difference between 2016-17 and 2017-18, and, having looked at the data for each of Wales’ seven health boards, it seems that an even greater number, 8%, are not undertaking exercise here in North Wales. Similar patterns are true for older children too, with only 1 in 5 boys and 1 in 10 girls aged between 11 and 16 doing the minimum recommended level of at least 60 minutes of physical activity every day.
Clearly, we, as parents, need to be doing more to encourage our children to make the most of the great outdoors this Easter. There are fantastic free opportunities currently available, such as play areas across Conwy Council. However, I must note that I am worried about their future.
I have been advised that there is no finance to maintain all of them, and that cooperation with Town and Community Councils is being pursued to help find a solution. As you might be aware, there are ongoing costs with maintaining parks to appropriate health and safety standards. For example, I know of one in Aberconwy where around £20,000 is needed every 5 to 10 years, and that if the work is not undertaken, there is a possibility that play equipment could be closed off.
When considering the increasing financial pressures on councils, I do believe that direct action is needed by the Welsh Government to help save parks and recreation grounds. Whilst I have started work on trying to convince the Minister for Finance to make more money available, I do encourage you all to motivate young people to make the most of our green spaces as these fantastic facilities can no longer be taken for granted.