After police are called to escort a mum and her buggy off a bus, Maxine Gordon asks: how child-friendly is York?
ANYONE who has ever had to get on a bus with a pushchair will sympathise with the plight of York mum Wendy Saint.
As we reported yesterday, the 33-year-old had a stand-off with a First bus driver after she was asked to fold down her buggy, which was carrying her two-year-old daughter Liberty.
The driver said there was not enough room for the buggy because there were two already on the bus. Wendy thought there was. In the end, the police were called and after 25 minutes Wendy left the bus and had to wait for the next one.
First has since written to apologise for the "heavy handed" way it dealt with the matter and for the "unnecessary confrontational situation". However, it stands by its policy of allowing only two uncollapsed buggies on a bus for safety reasons.
Meanwhile, Wendy is still seething and is demanding a face-to-face apology.
Sadly, her experience is not unique. In December we reported how Tina Hewitt and her two children were asked to leave a bus a mile into their journey because the driver decided her buggy was blocking the door.
Tina's story prompted a debate on our letters page about whether buggies should be allowed on buses altogether and even whether supermarkets should provide parent-child priority parking.
The Evening Press has been highlighting the difficulties facing disabled people in navigating around the city and accessing shops, restaurants and other buildings. But parents with pushchairs also share these problems and for anyone with a double buggy the difficulties can be even greater.
York prides itself as a shopping centre and for its visitor attractions, but is it a child-friendly city?
Lucy Hjort is a city businesswoman, a mum of two and a member of the National Childbirth Trust (NCT) in York and is well placed to answer this question. She is working on a new edition of the popular Child Friendly York book, first published by the NCT in 2002.
Lucy, who runs city restaurants Melton's and Meltons Too, said: "York is as child friendly, if not more so, than other cities, and certainly more than other historic cities. We are delighted to highlight some of the good things people and businesses have done in our book but we also recognise there are some limitations."
These limitations, she says, are sometimes caused by the historic nature of a city which has narrow streets or buildings which cannot accommodate a ramp or a lift.
However, other frustrations facing parents are purely man made. "The shoe shop Jones has charming staff, but why is its children's shoe section upstairs?" asks Lucy. The same question can be asked of Boots, which has its nappies on the upper floor, and Bhs, which puts children's wear upstairs, as does Next. Lucy says parents are also exasperated by the fashion stores which can't accommodate a buggy in the changing rooms.
"Many mothers have disposable incomes and will be out shopping at a time when other customers are not," says Lucy. "They are a valuable commodity and just because they have got a buggy doesn't mean they are only in town shopping for their child."
There will be new additions to the guide, which is due out in October, including the launch of the weekly Big Scream club at York City Screen where parents can bring babies under one to the cinema. Lucy is also full of praise for the Next Generation gym, which is a winner in the child-friendly stakes.
However, Lucy feels we could all do more to make the city more welcoming to parents with children. "A lot of it is to do with attitude. I know one mum who had just spent £150 on a pair of spectacles in a shop then asked if she could sit on the sofa to breastfeed her child. She was told she couldn't. The lesson there is, she shouldn't have asked."
Have you found any shops, cafs, restaurants, businesses or activities which get the child-friendly thumbs-up? If so, please share them with readers and we will pass them on to Lucy Hjort for inclusion in the next Child Friendly York book. Write to Features, Evening Press, 76-86 Walmgate, York, YO1 9YN or email: features@ycp.co.uk
Updated: 11:37 Thursday, May 12, 2005
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