A seven-acre park in Bloomsbury does not allow adults to enter without a child.
Coram’s Fields, whose main entrance is on Guilford Street, prohibits those aged over 16 to enter without a child.
The aim of this policy, in place since 1936, is to make Coram’s Fields a safe-haven for children and young people.
Amy Field, 37, of March, Cambridgeshire, takes her 3-year-old and 9-month-old children to Coram’s Fields whenever she visits London.
Field said: “It’s just more of a safety element because you know that there are no adults in there without children, it makes you feel safer.”
Coram’s Fields includes of gardens and playgrounds for children of different ages (including a wheelchair-friendly play area), a paddling pool and sports facilities, such as a basketball and netball court, football pitches and ping-pong tables.
It is operated by the Coram’s Fields charity, which runs a series of sports programmes and activities for children and young people, a Nursery and community events such as its annual fireworks display.
“As a charity we are committed to being a safe and secure space for children to come and play and implement this in a number of ways,” reads the charity’s website.
“One such measure that is detailed in our Safeguarding Policy is that we do not allow any unaccompanied adults into the park.”
The charity’s Safeguarding Policy states that there is “a responsibility on all staff to challenge those without children.”
Ed May, Operations Officer at Coram’s Fields, said: “It doesn’t take too long if somebody does get through the gate without a child before a member of our grounds team will go up to them and kindly inform them of our rules and ask them to leave.”
The seven-acre piece of land formerly housed the Foundling Hospital for deserted and vulnerable children, founded by philanthropist Captain Thomas Coram in the mid-18th century.
Preserving the ethos of the Foundling Hospital by providing a safe-haven for children and young people, Coram’s Fields was opened in 1936 after the Hospital relocated to Berkhamsted, Hertfordshire.
For more information on the activities and events held at Coram’s Fields, as well as information on exemptions to its policy, visit www.coramsfields.org.
Main image credit: Joe Shlabotnik, licenced under Creative Commons BY-NC-SA 2.0
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