Belfast to host treasure hunt for local children

Children from all parts of Belfast are being invited to go on a treasure hunt in Sir Thomas and Lady Dixon Park next month, which besides winning them a prize could help the City Council strike ‘gold’ by improving services to young people.

The Council will be holding a ticket-only treasure hunt and carnival event on 10 August as part of their attempts to canvas the views of young people about their services and how these can be improved to better suit children’s needs. The consultation exercise will be running across all council activities during the summer.

Community Services Area Manager, Cathy Dornan, said: “It is part of the Council’s key priorities to improve services for young people and the easiest way to do that is let them say exactly what they would like to have. This is an opportunity for those who have previously used our services, and especially those who haven’t, to tell us why.

“The reward will be in getting services more suited to their needs as well as what they might win in the treasure hunt. Even those who don’t want to go hunting can participate in a range of fun activities and event during the afternoon from 1.00pm-4:00pm. It will be a fun occasion and we want to see as many children as possible enjoying it.

“It is about giving young people in the city a voice and we want to hear from as many as possible. It is no good moaning about things not being the way you want when you don’t take the opportunity to tell people what you would like to have,” she added.

Tickets for the treasure hunt at Sir Thomas and Lady Dixon Park are available from Blanche Thompson (Play Development Officer) on 028 90270470.

“The only condition for participating in next month’s treasure hunt is to be resident in Belfast because it is children from Belfast from whom we want to hear, ” said Dornan.

(GB/KMcA)