Soft play businesses 'totally forgotten about', say owners of Thurso centre
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The owners of a soft play centre in Thurso have claimed businesses such as theirs are being "totally forgotten about" by the Scottish Government.
Fiona and Ian Carlisle, who run Messy Nessy in the town’s Rotterdam Street, say the way they have been treated amounts to discrimination and they are frustrated by the lack of guidance for the sector.
Messy Nessy has been shut since March, along with similar centres elsewhere in Scotland, because of Covid-19. The couple insist: “Our argument is that there is no scientific reason to keep soft play closed."
Mr and Mrs Carlisle are part of a support group of Scottish soft play owners who have been pushing for funding and an opening date.
Messy Nessy opened two years ago and its facilities include a soft play frame, a sensory room, a pottery area and a small coffee shop. The centre has also been used by children and adults with special needs.
The only government support Mr and Mrs Carlisle have received is a small business grant at the start of the pandemic. They also took a small bounce-back loan, and staff have been on furlough throughout.
“Basically it’s pretty bleak for soft play," Mrs Carlisle said.
“Obviously with all the restrictions that are being imposed just now we’re no further on in the road map so no closer to getting open – not even an indication.
"We haven’t been given any additional information or a date, even though other sectors similar to ours are open throughout Scotland.
"I very much feel that the Scottish Government has almost washed its hands of soft play. They’ve not even put guidance together.
"Children don’t have to social distance. As long as you put in the adequate health and safety and risk assessments, and you’re following the Covid procedures that everybody else is following, there is no scientific reason to keep soft play closed.
“We cover a lot of the emotional and physical and mental development of children, and we are just totally forgotten about. Nobody is listening to us.”
Mrs Carlisle said a one-off grant of up to £10,000 for soft play owners has been talked about, but with no commitment on when it might be available.
“That’s fine, it would be a big help to us," she said. "But Messy Nessy is a very small play centre compared with some of the huge centres down in Glasgow, and that’s a drop in the ocean for the eight months that they’ve been closed.
“They will not put it in writing and they won’t give a date on when it will be available. It could be considerably less than that.”
She pointed out that soft play businesses in other parts of the UK are open: "It’s only Scotland that has an issue."
Mrs Carlisle said one positive development was that they had managed to open part of the business to provide craft workshops to children and adults. "That has made a huge difference this week, but it’s the October holidays so people are looking for things to do," she said.
"Once the kids go back to school next week we’ll be back in the same situation and being very much reliant on whatever is coming from the Scottish Government, if anything.
“I very much feel that the Scottish Government has discriminated against soft play, for whatever reason. Even if we just had the scientific knowledge behind it then people would have a better understanding."
She added: “We’ve only been going two years. We weren’t millionaires to start with and we’re certainly not now. It can all just be taken away very quickly.
“That’s the frustrating thing – not just for us but for all the Scottish soft play centres. There is absolutely nothing they can do and nobody is listening. We’re not being treated fairly.”
Messy Nessy has a client base from throughout Caithness and parts of Sutherland.
Scotland's national clinical director, Professor Jason Leitch, has given an assurance that guidance is being drawn up for soft play owners, although it is “not yet appropriate” for them to reopen.
He was responding to a question at the First Minister's daily coronavirus briefing on Wednesday.
Prof Leitch said soft play centres will remain closed because they are “slightly more casual and slightly less regulated and more optional” than nurseries.
But he added: “It is an important industry and one of the ministers engaged again with the industry just this week
“There is guidance being developed. I think that guidance is due for publication quite soon. It won't indicate that soft play is going to open on a date, but it will allow soft play to work hard to get to the point where the mitigations are strong.
“And then, we hope, as prevalence falls, as we move down the tiers, perhaps in some parts of Scotland, soft play would be one of the areas that would be then considered for opening. But it is not yet appropriate to open soft play areas.”
First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said: “We are having to take balanced decisions on a whole range of things right now but we understand the arguments that have been made about soft play. We want to engage with the industry and get guidance in place so we can get these places up and running again. I know how important these kinds of places are for parents and for kids, but also how important they are as businesses.”
In a message to soft play owners, Ms Sturgeon said: “I am really sorry you are this position right now. Please don't think you have been forgotten about. We will continue to work with you to get to a better position as quickly as we possibly can."
