As any parent can tell you, organised activities can be a god-send. Whether your child is playing football, learning to speak a foreign language, taking ballet lessons or part of a toddler group, these activities provide parents and children alike with the opportunity to come together with friends, to learn and develop, to have fun and enjoy themselves. When Covid-19 forced the UK and Ireland into lockdown in Spring 2020, the businesses and individuals running these groups were thrown into an unimaginable situation. Their doors were physically closed, they could no longer bring children and parents together in gymnasiums, sports halls, community centres, or on sports fields and pitches. The essence of their business model was gone. Having a physical, offline presence is paramount to the value they offer. They survive because they form face-to-face relationships; meeting and working with both parents and children in-person is central to the experiences they provide, and ultimately underlies their success. Without that, they are nothing. These are not the business that might immediately come to mind when we consider the harsh effects of the pandemic. High street businesses closed their doors, and the absence of pedestrians in town centres and shopping districts was a graphic illustration of lockdown’s effects; yet beyond the streets, these activities were gone as well – an absence that was sorely felt. Children’s activity groups provide an important community service. They bring people together, and while they are not directly mental health services, they provide a great benefit in that area – for parents and children. They are about development, about society, about meeting parenting goals, and all of this became very difficult in the pandemic. Yet the organisers of these groups stepped up. Faced with an extraordinary situation, they found new ways to continue. STEPPING UP TO THE MARK We spoke to a group of business owners in the UK and Ireland, all of whom provide activities for groups of children in their local communities, as well as to the parents and guardians of children – aged between one and 15 – taking part in those activities. Their activities ranged from sports (e.g. gymnastics, football, dance) to education (e.g. science, maths, foreign languages) to creative arts (music and theatre), religious groups, youth politics and special activities for visually impaired children. All the businesses, owners are super-ambitious, with wideranging goals such as supporting new parents, getting children set for life or providing a happy place for young people among the stresses and strains of life. All of our participants continued to operate their businesses throughout the first nationwide lockdowns, moving their activities online – a migration which was sudden, and that required great innovation, creativity, adaptability and commitment. They really went for it, but found that they could not easily replicate what they did offline. They had to adapt in many ways, from coming up with new music playlists because Facebook wouldn’t allow them to play their music online, to concentrating on strength work where children didn’t have the space or equipment to do gymnastics at home, to rethinking scientific experiments so they could be done with products typically found in the average kitchen. All the activity providers went above and beyond the call of duty, offering additional activities – such as online sleepovers, making doorstep visits with colouring books and pens – and working hard to continue to support the children and their parents. THE IMPORTANCE OF PARENTS The move online resulted in parents having to play a more active role in some of the activities – preparing 28 |
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