PRESS RELEASE
FINAL
MAY 2014
TWO THIRDS OF KIDS SET TO SPEND SUMMER INDOORS ON THE COMPUTER
(Gadgets v’s Garden) - Hozelock unearths truth about kids’ play time
- 60 per cent of children shunning the gardenin favour of electronic gadgets
- One in three youngsters spend two hours or less in the garden every week
- 40 per cent of parents admit indoor play gives them “some peace”
Nearly two thirds of British children are shunning time in the garden in favour of playing indoors on gadgets, consoles and smart phones, new research has revealed.
A survey of 2,000 parents commissioned by British gardening manufacturerHozelock as part of its ‘Gardening for Life’campaigndiscovered that 60 per cent of children would rather play indoors on computer games than play in the garden.
30 per cent of the parents admitted struggling to get their children to play outside in the garden, and revealed that their youngsters now spend less than two hours a week playing in the garden, compared to an average of nine hours on game consoles, PC’s and tablets.
TV gardener, David Domoney, who is fronting the ‘Gardening for Life’ campaign to encourage children to get in the garden, said: “Youngsters are playing indoors much more than they used to a generation ago, and many spend nearly five times more time on computer games then playing outside. It’s so important for children to get out in the garden during the summer and get some fresh air and exercise, and if we’re not careful a whole generation will miss out on the joys of the great outdoors.”
A staggering 40 per cent of mums and dadsadmitted that they let their children stay indoors for long periods of time because it gives them “some peace” using the gadgets as ‘electronic child minders’.
David Domoney added: “Despite these findings, there still is some hope that children will want to get out in the garden more this summer. Children love fun activities like sowing seeds, planting flowers, picking fruit and watering the garden. Plus they always love getting their hands dirty! A lot of children said they would spend more time in the garden if they could help out with an activity, such as using a hose and watering the plants.Nowadays there are loads of kids gardening tools on the market which are ideal for little hands to use. Every child in the country should have their own personal patch of ground within their family garden.”
“Gardening is a great hobby for people of all ages and for children it’s particularly beneficial. It’s a fun, healthy activity plus the sense of satisfaction children feel when they watch something they’ve had a hand in growing is immeasurable.”
Lisa Jordan, UK marketing manager at Hozelock, added: “These results show the true extent of how technology has become more influential in our children’slives. Whilst we recognise that gadgets do have a place in society, we feel it’s important children have a healthy balance when it comes to play. Our Gardening for Life campaign is all about encouraging as many people as possible to get into the garden and tempt youngsters to swap their gadgets for the great outdoors.
“Hozelock has a wide range of products to help children enjoy the garden – take our newly launched PicoTMReel Reel for example – this compact watering hose weighs less than two bags of sugar and will help children make light work of watering the garden!”
ENDS
Notes to editors
For more information on Hozelock’s ‘Gardening for Life’ campaign including images and interviews please contact Sheridan Okey at Cogent Elliott on 01676 526568 or email .
About Hozelock
Hozelock is the global specialist in garden watering.
Founded in 1959, Hozelock is a leading British manufacturer of gardening products and one of the UK’s favourite gardening suppliers. Its annual turnover is £100m and it has 500 employees. With over half a century of horticultural expertise, Hozelock understands the rewards of gardening and continues to manufacture over 85% of its products in Europe at its factories in UK and France.
Designed by gardeners for gardeners, and with a 50 year heritage of innovation Hozelock’s products are developed following on-going research and feedback from consumers every step of the way.
Hozelock manufactures a variety of garden products covering: garden watering, garden pressure sprayers and pond equipment. It sells in over 40 countries and is the market leader in the UK.
About David Domoney
David co-presents with Alan Titchmarsh the most-watched gardening television show in Britain today. ITV1’s Love Your Garden peaked last year at 4.6 million viewers and has been re-commissioned for a new prime-time series of eight one-hour shows plus holiday specials for 2014.
David is a Fellow of The Institute of Horticulture and sits on the Royal Horticultural Society Commercial Board. He pioneered the Young Gardeners of the Year competition in association with the Princes Foundation for Building Community (now in its fourth year). Over 250 students from around Britain have had first-hand experience building show gardens, and each year their creations are shown to a quarter of a million visitors at London’s Ideal Home Show.
David has won 28 RHS Medals to date, including gold medals at Chelsea Flower Show and BBC Gardeners World Live, plus and two Best in Show RHS category trophies.
For more information visit daviddomoney.com, follow @daviddomoney on Twitter and like David on Facebook.