Findings from User Needs Survey – July 2023
We recently asked for your thoughts on how best to spend a small grant from Cork County Council’s Community Recognition Fund for the playground in Cork Road. We are very grateful to over 140 of you who took the time to complete the survey and/or contact us through other channels with your thoughts and suggestions. Further, the data you provided regarding general facilities on the site, along with your interest in the future development of the playground, will be of tremendous value in the months and years ahead. For now, however, we are pleased to share the findings from sections 1 to 3 of the interim report. Section 4, consisting of a discussion and next steps is currently with Cork County Council for review, and will be shared once details of the equipment to be procured from the grant fund is agreed, and the report finalised.
Section 1: Introduction
Skibbereen playground has been an area of fun and enjoyment for generations of children. The playground equipment is designed for children aged 12 years and under, clearly displayed on the sign to the main entrance. The sports courts, also known as multi-use games area (MUGA) are designed for users or all ages. The outdoor gym equipment is designed for adult use only.
Section 2: Research Design
Data were initially collected during three site visits by the researcher to the playground, observing how the facilities (including MUGA and skating area) were being used, and speaking with parents of children playing there.
A licenced version of Microsoft Forms was used to design the anonymous survey. Five parents were approached to pilot the survey between Friday 21 and Sunday 23 July, with some questions amended following their feedback. These five responses were also included in the final count (n=137). The survey was published on the blog SkibbereenTidyTowns.com on Sunday 23 July, at 19:00 and was distributed through usual social platforms. When it closed on Monday 31 July at 23:55 hours the survey had attracted 472 views and 145 responses. In addition to the survey responses, two email exchanges provided additional qualitative feedback on the playground from interested stakeholders.
Section 3: Findings
The opening question asked whether respondents have children in their care whom they bring to Skibbereen playground. Eight responded ‘no’ to this question and the survey ended for them. The remaining 137 respondents proceeded to complete the survey with a mix of closed, scaled and open questions.
3.1 Survey closed and scaled question responses
Three age ranges were presented to respondents as 2 years and under, 3 to 5 years, and 6 to 12 years. The age range 6 to 12 years attracted the highest number at 100 (47% of the total), followed by 3 to 5 years at 75 (36%) and children aged 2 years and under at 36 (17%). As the pie chart in Figure 1 indicates, there is an almost equal balance between the ages 5 years and under (53%), and 6 to 12 years (47%).
In Q.3 respondents were asked how frequently they visited the playground. Figure 2 depicts the breakdown of responses. While 56 (41%) said they visited weekly, a further 30 (22%) visited one or more times a week, accounting for almost two-thirds visiting at least weekly.
Question 4 enquired as to what children like to do at the park and there was no limit to the selection from the options presented. These are depicted in Figure 3. After the expected highest response of ‘play on playground equipment’ came the zipline with 106 children who like to use it, 65 who like to ‘skate, scoot and cycle’ in the skatepark, 39 who like to ‘kick a football around’, and 37 who like to ‘play on accessible equipment’. Smaller numbers like to play sports in the sports courts, and have a picnic. Only nine like to enjoy nature in the playground, and only six like to sit and read a book.
In Q.5 respondents were asked to select three options from a list of 13 physical activities that adult respondents and children enjoy outside of the playground. The results are presented in Figure 4. Of the activities that can take place in the playground currently the most enjoyable were listed as climbing (71 responses), swinging (62 responses), imaginative play (38 responses) and sports such as football and basketball (35 responses). The most enjoyable activities that cannot take place in the playground currently were recorded as cycling (43 responses), and jumping (30 responses).
Q.6 asked if there was any activity not listed in Q.5 that children might benefit from. The responses in alphabetical order were dancing, fishing, gymnastics, ice skating, playing music and swimming.
Questions 7 and 8 focused on the fun element of the playground. Q.7 asked respondents to rate Skibbereen playground overall based on how ‘fun’ it is for children (5 smiling faces being the most fun, and 1 the least fun). The average rating came in at marginally above 3.0, as shown in Figure 5.
Question 8 then asked ‘If you had to evaluate a playground based on how ‘fun’ it is for children generally, how would you rate the following playground features?’ The choices presented were from ‘great fun’ to ‘boring’ with an option for ‘no opinion’. These are presented in full in Figure 6.
3.2 Survey open question responses and thematic analysis
Question 9 was an open-ended question that asked respondents to share any further thoughts on the current facilities at Skibbereen playground, inviting suggestions for future consideration. The 88 free text comments were analysed and a number of themes generated. In order to maintain focus on the short-term goal, these themes along with sample quotes representative of the theme, will be shared in a future update.
In Q.10 respondents were asked if they might be interested in joining a subcommittee to progress the development of Skibbereen playground for the future ahead, to which 29 responded positively, accounting for 21% of the total responses. This was followed by Q.11 that asked if respondents might be interested in future communications regarding the playground with 58 (42%) providing a positive response. Email addresses and/or names were then provided by a total of 58 respondents, to be collated into an email group for future updates and potentially an invitation to join any committee that might be established for the future development of the playground. Twenty four email addresses were provided by respondents interested in joining or forming a committee. A respondent who identified as ‘Michael’ did not leave an email address. The remaining 33 addresses were provided by those wishing to be informed of future updates regarding the playground.
If you’ve read this far, thank you!
Once we complete the short-term objective of procuring and installing the piece of accessible equipment made possible by the Community Recognition Fund we will be in touch regarding future and on-going support of the amenity. Until then, we welcome expressions of interest in getting involved in the ‘Friends of Skibbereen Playground’. Alternatively, feel free to get in touch with Sandra at SkibbereenTidyTowns@iCloud.com with any ideas or suggestions.
Featured image courtesy of andremsantana on Pixabay
Skibbereen Tidy Towns 