Childminder Security Systems, a company based in the Midlands, announced the successful launch of a revolutionary new security system which is set to significantly enhance child safety at theme parks, holiday resorts, entertainment complexes, crèches, play arenas and health facilities across the world.
Childminder’s wristband is a state-of-the-art, secure, re-usable reinforced device which signals venue operators in real time when a child is leaving without their parent or guardian – the only security system of its kind to do so. It also ensures that lost or separated children are swiftly reunited with their parents by electronically linking their mobile number to the wristband.
The innovative product has been designed specifically for use in conjunction with existing, established technology and requires no batteries or physical maintenance. Refreshingly it does not rely on new or complex location-tracking, Wi-Fi or Radio Frequency technology so is cost effective to install in any type of venue.
The business, led by mother and entrepreneur Sally Stallard, has been backed with government funding from Advantage West Midlands, the Regional Development Agency, and has been implemented at Shropshire’s largest visitor attraction, a fairy tale adventure theme park for children in Telford called Wonderland.
Commenting, Sally said: “As a parent myself, I know how unsettling it can be in busy public places when children are most at risk of becoming lost or separated from their parents and so we began thinking of practical ways to improve child safety, to help parents to relax a little more and to give teachers and group leaders additional peace of mind when out and about with children.
After two years of hard work and a crucial grant from Advantage West Midlands we are delighted to announce the world’s first system to address child safety in what we believe to be the most affordable, practical and responsible way. We have pieced together different principles from existing technologies in an innovative yet very simplistic combination to achieve this.
Although there can be, and must be no substitute for parental care and responsibility, we are aiming to provide guardians and venues with more options and freedom of choice to better protect children. We chose Wonderland because of their strong reputation, their links to local schools through the national curriculum and because of their entrepreneurial spirit”.
Commenting, the theme park’s Owner and Director, Belinda Griffiths said: “We are very proud to be the first leisure venue to implement this exciting new product. It’s a success story of two entrepreneurial organisations coming together in the face of the recession to address an important unsolved problem for our industry and we are sure that it wont be long before this system becomes commonplace as parents start to demand additional safety for their children when out and about having fun together in busy places. Feedback from our visitors has been excellent; parents seem to enjoy their visit more and teachers gain valuable assurance for their pre-excursion risk assessments. We are able to hire out the wristbands and so for us they create a new revenue stream and more than pay for themselves”.
Commenting, a recent visitor to Wonderland, Helen Wood of Staffordshire said: “This is an absolutely fantastic idea and should be implemented at all busy leisure venues. My son Ben loves wearing the band and I feel safer that if we became separated we would be reunited a lot quicker. Ben can’t leave the park without alarms going off at the exits, which is very reassuring. I was pleasantly surprised that putting on and taking off the band was so quick and easy. I feel safer and I have really enjoyed our trip today”
The cost effective system is operated by the venues themselves and includes an innovative but straightforward wristband which is comfortably and securely locked to a child’s wrist when they enter the venue so that the child cannot remove it.
An identification number is included on the wristband which is linked by computer to a guardian’s mobile phone details when the family or group come into the facility, to help reunite children with their guardians if they become separated.
On the exits of the venue are either sensors which activate alarms if a child attempts to leave the area, whilst wearing a wristband, or security guards are present where sensors are not possible. Should a child become separated during their visit, the venue operators follow their standard procedures to locate the child or their guardian within the venue whilst being further assured by the fact that the child is not able to leave the perimeter at any time.
The adjustable wristbands are deadlocked in the correct position once fitted to prevent subsequent injury to the child by over-tightening whilst they are playing. They are unlocked by venue staff using a specific key when a family leaves and are only removed when staff are presented with the parent’s corresponding ID tag.
The system contains no complicated location-tracking technology and so is economical and simple to install and operate on either a very small or very large scale. Importantly, it has been designed with basic practicality, simplicity and affordability in mind so that any member of the general public can benefit regardless of their wealth and any venue operator regardless of their size or type. Such venues include: theme parks, zoos, holiday parks, concert venues, complexes, crèches, play arenas, shopping centres and water parks for example.
The patent-pending wristbands are reusable, durable and waterproof.
The Midlands company has already been in discussions with well known national leisure companies with a view to extending their services widely across the UK in 2009.
They are developing a website at: funvenues.com where members of the public can view their details and visitors will soon be able to search for venues across the UK that use the security system and whom are as a result accredited to Childminder UK’s national safety standards.
