Burnham is a large village in South Buckinghamshire with a population of approximately 11,000. It is roughly equidistant from Windsor, Maidenhead and Slough, which it borders to the east. To the west is open countryside and to the north the well known beauty spot of Burnham Beeches. Burnham is near the M4 and M40, and Burnham railway station is on the direct rail line west out of Paddington. It is a popular commuter area because of its accessibility and its proximity to the large and successful Slough Industrial Estate. Property prices are correspondingly high. Generally it has mixed housing with a large number of both private and housing association properties and includes high-income groups as well as one of South Bucks' designated deprived areas.

The Burnham Health Promotion Trust (BHPT) is a charity, with no political affiliation, concerned with the health and life quality of the people of Burnham.

There have been concerns expressed by the local community about the safety of certain parts of Burnham notably the High Street - particularly at night - and the village's recreational areas, notably Burnham Park, the largest public open space in the village. Similarly there has been some debate on the adequacy of those recreational facilities that do exist.

Although these concerns are not on the same level as those felt in many urban areas, the BHPT sought to find out what those concerns were, particularly with regard to the children. Local children, and the parents as well in the primary school survey, were asked how they thought things could be improved. Burnham is, by and large, a pleasant place in which to live. That does not mean that efforts should not be made to improve things further.

In July 2002, a survey funded by the BHPT, was carried out, in three schools in Burnham, by Nicky Ridley (specialist worker - young people- for the BHPT) and Dr Bev Daily ( trustee of the BHPT and voluntary worker). The three schools selected were two primary schools, St Peters C of E and Lent Rise Combined schools, and one secondary modern school, Burnham Upper School.

South Bucks has selective education. There is a Burnham Grammar School. Burnham Upper and the primary schools was chosen because the great majority of their pupils live within the electoral parish of Burnham and use its facilities.

Six recreational areas were chosen for the survey.

Burnham Park.

The Stomping Ground

Minniecroft Road/tarmac

St Peters Close play area

The Gore

George Pitcher Memorial Ground.

BURNHAM PARK. This is the largest area of public land in central Burnham. It is primarily parkland with no other facilities. The grass is cut from time to time, but not sufficiently often for ball games to be played regularly (excepting for one small area for football training). There are no sports areas, no playground equipment. It lies on the Slough/Burnham boundary, which is also the Bucks/Berks county boundary. Many of the people who use the park, therefore, are neighbouring Slough residents. Dog fouling is prohibited in the park. Burnham Library sits at the entrance of Burnham Park. The village hall, Burnham Park Hall, is 200 yards away.

THE STOMPING GROUND. This is a very small recreational area with playground equipment and a tiny grass area, on which parents and children can sit, on Stomp Road, a busy road in a built-up area. The recreational area is very near to Burnham police station, Burnham Upper school and adjoins the hard tennis courts of Burnham Tennis Association.

MINNIECROFT ROAD/TARMAC. The Youth Centre in Burnham stands on Minniecroft Road opposite the Burnham Health Centre and St Peters C of E school. Next to the Youth Centre is a tarmac area equipped with a basketball net and is suitable for ball games.

ST PETER'S CLOSE PLAY AREA. With the Stomping Ground, this is one of central Burnham's two main playground areas. Situated between a private estate, St Peters Close, and the playing fields of Burnham Upper School, it is also the nearest recreational area to Burnham High Street. Much larger than the Stomping Ground, it has a mix of playground equipment and a grass area with mini goalposts.

THE GORE. This is an area of scrub-land on the western edge of the built up area of Burnham within easy walking distance of a number of housing estates. It has been included in this survey because it is the type of area that children traditionally used in the past for recreational purposes, playing games etc.

GEORGE PITCHER MEMORIAL GROUND. This is an area of mainly playing pitches - particularly football - about a mile away from central Burnham and its main housing. There is no pavement for part of the way between it and the Burnham central areas and it is usually reached by car. It is a centre for organised teams, many of whom come from outside Burnham itself. The grass is cut very regularly, there are changing rooms, toilets and other amenities.

In the surveys, particular interest has been taken in Burnham Park because of its size and because many people see it, for various reasons, as under-utilised. Burnham High Street and Burnham Library have also been considered with regard to perceived safety.

Questionnaires were sent to all children aged 8 to 11 years at the two primary schools, to be filled in by the parents, and to all pupils at Burnham Upper School aged 12 to 15 years, to be filled in by the pupils themselves, during class time under the supervision of a teacher. The questionnaire in the two surveys differed, in some details from each other, reflecting the age differences of the children concerned.

In all, over 400 pupils returned the detailed questionnaires. The quality of the responses was very high indeed and there were only two or three unusable, spoiled papers.

In all, 376 completed questionnaires were used for these surveys - all 92 primary school replies, all 224 secondary school children who live within the electoral parish of Burnham, and 60 secondary school children who live just over the Burnham/ Slough boundary and regard Burnham as their " home village" using its amenities and recreational facilities accordingly.

In order to encourage a response the Trust gave a £50 prize to each of the three schools. Those who had completed satisfactorily the questionnaire were eligible for the prize by lottery. This was done by the use of draw tickets attached to the questionnaires, as the survey was confidential. It was only necessary, on the form, for the person to give their age, gender and postal code, though many did elect to put on their name and address as well.

At this point the authors make no apologies for using the expression "children" throughout this document. It is not meant to be patronising to the older individuals, or politically incorrect, but is used as a convenient generic term irrespective of the wide age range (7 to 15 years).

Questions concerned such issues as the children's views on the recreational areas from the point of view of popularity and safety. With what frequency did they see certain activities - good and bad - going on in these areas? The answers to these questions, particularly in the secondary school survey, were remarkable in their consistency and we have gone into some detail, in this survey, to show what a valuable and unbiased source of information this young population can be.

Questions were asked concerning improvements the children would like to see made, the facilities they would wish for, their attitudes towards the relative safety of different parts of Burnham, and, in the case of the primary school children, the attitudes of the parents as well.

Views regarding police presence were sought. How often did the children see a policeman, evidence of drug misuse, mobile phone theft, dogs fouling the parks? How much use was made of the youth centre? Was there a pressing need for a youth advice centre, a special meeting place for teenagers, a part-time job register? How many children belonged to organised sports clubs inside and outside of Burnham? Did they get enough exercise? How many nights a week did they spend on the internet or playing computer games? The primary school parents were asked to express the concerns they most had for their children's safety.

All in all this provided an extraordinarily detailed, and we believe, accurate picture of Burnham children's perception of their community, their aspirations and wishes. We hope that this information will be valuable to those making decisions concerning the village and may be, in a general sense, helpful to other, similar communities.

We know of no similar survey in a community such as Burnham aimed, expressly, at parents and children, to obtain their opinions on leisure and safety. We are grateful to the staff, parents and children of the schools involved for their help and co-operation.

Nicky Ridley

Bev Daily