Our kids have had an excellent time taking part in the holiday activities these past two weeks.
It’s a shame then, that we sometimes have to endure mistreatment while working to ensure children from marginalised communities who live in areas of deprivation are treated with a less than satisfactory service when we took them to the Oxford Ice Rink.
Despite showing our YouMove cards to get a discount on the session, we were rudely told it would take too long to process and that our only other option was to leave. We were then forced to pay full price and abandon the discount provided by the YouMove and Bonus cards initiative.
Fusion Lifestyle should manage their administration a lot better – having only one till open when there are 50 people waiting is bound to guarantee bottleneck problems.
We ask Oxford City Council to help streamline this process, particularly for nuanced communities that have limited access to the internet, struggle with English comprehension and therefore will not even attempt to navigate the Ice Rink’s online booking system.
With Oxford being one of the most diverse cities in the South, isn’t it time to couple action with the endless years of talking about change?
We don’t want to disappoint our children who looked forward to ice skating all week, but we were still forced to wait nearly an hour to gain entry. This experience has left a sour taste in our mouths as we were not made to feel welcomed – and we can’t imagine how many other families from diverse heritages have been made to feel this way. This was made even more disappointing for one of our children who came along to celebrate his birthday with the community he had bonded with and been enjoying the Holiday Activities with these past 2 weeks.
Councillor Lubna Arshad Oxford Labour was one of our parents in the group and witnessed the unsatisfactory behaviour by the team at the Ice Rink. We have asked her to investigate this incident and to report her findings so that we can come to a suitable resolution.