And the silly survey says: Reading worst for families
I was on the Thames Valley Park bus this morning, in a pre-coffee daze, when I caught a few interesting words on the radio “Reading..survey..worst..[inaudible]“. I shrugged my shoulders.
Later, I was IM’ing a friend and former Reading resident, now living in Thailand, and he told me that, according to a Daily Mail article he’d read, the town has worsened. Intrigued, and remembering what I had heard on the bus, I went straight to a trusted news source on the web, the BBC.
And there it was: Reading named worst for families. It was right on the BBC homepage, as one of the most e-mailed articles. Most interesting.
I will reproduce the first four paragraphs of the BBC article:
A Berkshire town has been named the worst place in Britain to bring up a family, according to a new survey.
The Reader’s Digest poll asked 1,000 parents to list the things that make for a family-friendly environment.
The researchers then ranked places on how they scored against the criteria – which included crime rates, good local hospitals and affordable housing.
Reading was last in 408th place, while Oxford was 399th. The Scottish district of East Dunbartonshire came top.
Reading was last in 408th place. 408th. What utter nonsense is this? Time for some scorn-heaping.
I accept that Reading isn’t perfect, nor even great. But it’s a very strong town. Exceptionally strong in some areas. A Reader’s Digest spokesperson said that “community” was vital, and mentioned “safe streets, strong schools and thriving towns”.
Well, you can put a big, fat tick next to “strong schools” in Reading. Put more than one tick, if you like, for we have more than one first-class school in the town. Kendrick, anyone? It’s the best grammar school in the country. How about the Abbey School? Reading Blue Coat School? Reading School? I guess these stunningly successful schools aren’t right for today’s families. Pity. And how about higher education? We have two universities in Reading.
Reading feels safe, or safer, to me. I was brought up in the town and it has always felt safe. There are idiots who drink too much and like a bit of a scrap, but you get that in all places, right? Reading is CCTV heaven and now we’re even getting talking cameras, to make sure that people behave in the town centre.
The Reader’s Digest says “family friendly”, I say “Microsoft”. I know, because I’m there 5 days a week, and I tell you, this Reading-based technology giant is so family friendly, it’s beautiful. People there are passionate about the stuff they do, but they also know when to switch off and spend time with the kids. Or they bring their kids to work. That, Reader’s Digest readers, is rather special.
No jobless mummies and daddies in the town, either, as we have a very low unemployment rate of just 2.3%, and as the BBC article again points out, the average worker pockets £22,560 a year, “well above the national average”. I think that’s what you might call characteristic of a “thriving town”.
And look at the community/family friendly activities in Reading! The nearby Adventure Dolphin Centre (Pangbourne) is great for kids (and adults, too, though I did feel odd at the rock-climbing class standing next to 12 year olds), offering pursuits such as kayaking on the Thames, climbing, abseiling, mountain biking – and the list goes on. Then there’s swimming, watching a family movie at Vue, celebrating a birthday at a local restaurant, attending Premiership football, visiting Reading Museum, moshing at Reading Festival…
Kids can run amok in the countryside around Reading, where they can also gently feed the horses or watch llamas graze. We have some of the most beautiful hills and meadows in the country (on a par with the Peak District, I heard recently). And our country pubs aren’t bad, either. The young ‘uns can have their crisps and play on the swings.
A minor point, perhaps, but we have generally better weather down South, meaning happier faces and more hours of playing in the sunshine.
The people I know who were brought up in Reading are happy, stable and successful. My friends, whose academic abilities varied at school, are all doing ok, leading healthy, balanced lifestyles.
I’ve had my say. The following is what others think of the survey:
- Reading is an excellent place to bring up a family and it is hard to take a study seriously that does not recognise this. We would also question the methodology of this survey [Jo Lovelock, Deputy Leader of Reading Borough Council]
- …from a poll of 1,612 people across the country, which means on average they only surveyed 3 people from each town. Maybe they misread “reading” for “Reading” when asked the question “do you like Reading?”
[worker] - Considering its a Reader’s Digest poll you could understand their confusion. [worker]
- But the most polls conducted by Mori ec. only ever survey about 1000 people across the Uk and on that basis we all get told what the nation “thinks” about various issues. I’ve always thought this to be very suspect. IMHO. [worker]
June 19th, 2008 at 4:35 pm
Boooooooooo Reading is a stupid place you can get killed walking your dog!!!!! the housing is stupidly expensive too