The Birstall group considered that friends, transport, crime/bullying, parents, safety and money were all key elements determining after school activities. Beyond this the adult in charge, culture, setting, length of time, space and activities and workshops were all considered quite important. Toys and equipment and choice were given low marks.

In the children’s ideal village the idea of a sports centre or an arts and sports centre were considered important. Children would like to play with friends in the park and have a happy village. The provision of a swimming pool or outdoor swimming was mentioned a few times. The children were socially aware in terms of a range of other facilities and had some fantastic ideas.
Concerns expressed by the children included worries about school work, transition to middle school, strangers and ‘druggies’ and ‘bad people’, walking to and from school on their own, being grabbed and parents splitting up.

The children enjoyed a wide range of activities from horse riding and being with their families to swimming, drawing and for one or two playing out on scooters, bikes or skateboards. Some children expressed a strong wish to live next to friends and to the park - perhaps strength in numbers.
Whilst working at Birstall Library we were concerned about how much of a drug problem there seemed to be in the area. The children talked about dugs quite openly and told us what the drugs looked like and in many cases they also knew the slang words for them. It wasn’t particularly this which we were concerned about as we think it’s good that children are aware of their surroundings, but in some cases other older children had tried to force drugs on members of the group when walking home from school. The children said they didn’t play out at night because it was unsafe and there were too many drugs around the area. This had a reflection on after-school activities and although some of the children went to clubs, most of the time they played at home indoors on the computers or watched television. Both child and parental perceptions around this issue were critical in creating a sense of an unsafe environment for the children. Desires for ‘safe’ and adult supervised outdoor play were very high within the group.

In their ideal village, the children want to have access to outdoor facilities as well as arts and sports facilities. The appearance is important, and they want it to be a happy place. Many concerns were expressed about the problem of drugs and being approached by ‘druggers’. They were worried about being approached by strangers, transition to the big school, and parents splitting up.

‘I get worried because I think about drug people and I think they are going to kill me.’

'I get worried because there are very bad people around and in case I get split up from my family.’

Interests ranged from drawing, horse riding, swimming and spending time with friends and family. There were frequent references to dislike of schoolwork and homework, and being grounded by parents.

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