New Junglemania soft play area in the Houndshill shopping centre.

Blackpool Gazette

Transcript

00:00I'm Amy Ashcroft, I'm the General Manager at Junglemania Blackpool.

00:20What was the inspiration behind setting up Junglemania and why did you think Blackpool

00:24was a good place to go?

00:26I feel that although it's very good commercial wise for holidaymakers, it's also got a great

00:34sense of community and for me community is a really big part of Blackpool.

00:40So I know when I started working here that's what I wanted to focus on.

00:44We've got a lot of loyal members that have been coming since before I even started working

00:50here and I just want to build on that.

00:53When did it get first set up?

00:59Junglemania has been going nearly a year.

01:02I started probably about seven, eight months ago.

01:09So I wasn't here from the very beginning.

01:13I know there's a few branches, it's Chris Coleman that owns Junglemania and he's the

01:19CEO.

01:20I know he's been in software for a very long time and he's very passionate about it so

01:27it's nice to work for someone else who has the same kind of passion as I do for what

01:31I do.

01:32So it was set up about a year ago, do you know exactly when?

01:38I would have to look into the documents.

01:41I would say at the start of last year.

01:45So you said your business is picking up, setting up, what's the responsibility of Blackpool

01:52and families and stuff like that?

01:54I know a lot of the customers that we have do come back.

01:58It's been a bit of a slow burner but we're picking up now.

02:04There aren't many that come and don't come and visit us again which is always a big compliment

02:10really.

02:12We've got a lovely, loyal customer base to be fair.

02:18Our staff are passionate as well.

02:21So it's just a nice place to work.

02:25It's gone down quite well to be fair.

02:29What are the busiest times?

02:33Busiest times would definitely be dinner time when everyone's hungry.

02:39We get a lot of the shoppers that come in.

02:43We do nice food.

02:44We do packed lunches.

02:45We do hot food.

02:46We do nice coffee.

02:47So it's a nice little pit stop while you're shopping.

02:51Yeah.

02:54What would you say makes this stand out from other kind of soft play areas or other things

02:59in Blackpool?

03:00I've worked in soft plays before.

03:02I worked at another soft play that's quite well known.

03:07And I feel that there are a lot of similarities between soft play.

03:11But I think what makes us stand out is our staff are passionate.

03:15Every staff member that works here cares about what they do.

03:19And out of hundreds of members, every child is known by at least one member of staff by name.

03:27We try to make it a personal experience.

03:30I mean at the end of the day we're giving an insight into people's lives.

03:35Especially when the members are coming back.

03:38And I think that's something that you can't take lightly.

03:44So we talked about the food.

03:46What else is on offer?

03:50So we have a range of things to play on.

03:55We have two trampolines, three slides.

03:59We have a zip line.

04:01We offer a colouring station.

04:04I would like to build more interactive activities.

04:07But that is not just up to me.

04:09So I have to bide my time and kind of build on that.

04:12We are currently starting our Top of Mornings on a Tuesday.

04:16Where children get free juice and biscuits.

04:19I'm incorporating this week, which I've been dying to do for ages,

04:24some musical instruments and doing like a little circle time.

04:27Make it so that the children can get to know each other.

04:30The adults can get to know each other.

04:33Just try and make it as personal as possible really.

04:36It's that kind of social aspect as well.

04:38Yeah, I think, like I said, community is a very big thing in Blackpool.

04:41And I think it's overlooked way too often.

04:44I think we're too busy trying to focus on people coming on holiday.

04:50When in reality there's so many families that live here.

04:53And I know for me personally, I'm a mum.

04:57I'm a mum of three.

04:58When I had my first child I had really bad postnatal.

05:01And I struggled to leave the house.

05:03And I feel like it's really important to have somewhere where new mums

05:07or even experienced mums, because it can happen to anyone, even dads,

05:11have somewhere to go and to talk to people in the same situation

05:16and be able to socialise.

05:18Yeah, that's what I'm trying to achieve.

05:21How much is like what the regular prices would like, just to come in or food?

05:29So drinks wise you're ranging between £2 to £3 for a hot drink.

05:34We do gorgeous coffee. It's lovely.

05:36I'm a little bit addicted.

05:38I might start shaking in a minute because I've already had two.

05:42Food on average is roughly about £5.

05:46But we do packed lunches which come with crisps, drink, sandwich, biscuit.

05:55We offer paninis, we offer hot dogs, we offer pizza.

06:00We do try to keep our food quite healthy.

06:02Any chips that are done and not done in a regular fryer,

06:05they're done in a mare fryer to try and keep them healthier for the children.

06:11Admissions range from age.

06:14So if you are with a baby in arms, it is completely free.

06:19It's completely free for adults.

06:21If you are a toddler, then it is £3.25.

06:28And then it ranges up to £6.75.

06:32And then if you are 5 to 11, it is £8.85.

06:37But what we do do with that is for any locals, we do have our membership,

06:42which is £9.99 a month.

06:44So you pay that £9.99 and that's for the full month.

06:48And you also get a 10% discount on food and drinks and parties.

07:04Do you have any different plans on what you normally do over Christmas in a year?

07:08When will you be open?

07:10So we will be opening for the late openings at Hounds Hill.

07:14So we will be open until about half seven, along with the shops.

07:18I know what it's like to try and juggle your kids and try and do that last minute bit of shopping.

07:23I don't want to say too much, but maybe you can tag a team,

07:29you know, get some stuff in the boot.

07:31And then by the time you're done, the kids are ready to sleep.

07:34I'm hoping to do a Christmas party, but again, it is not up to me.

07:39It could end up that we just do like a house workshop and do some crafts or activities that way.

07:45But it's not been fully discussed yet.

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