Statement
We are aware of a recent article in The Sun about Wild Wonderland Lancing and an event that took place last year in December.
This article has been sensationally written in a way to mis-lead the public and our customers about what this event was. This also includes the questions we were asked to make a statement on by the Sun. We were asked questions, we were not given the article to respond to and there is minimal context to the quotes used.
When we were approached, it was discussed that there are a community of people who are often judged that are adults, including SEN , ND etc who want to either dress up, or act like babies or children in a safe space without judgement.
Whilst we appreciate that this is not socially accepted by many, we also did not for see that people would make inappropriate associations and assumptions.
We were asked if we would allow them to hire our premises to hold an event for this community of people, one evening and clearly we had the same concerns on behalf of the public and ourselves.
We asked: “What will actually happen at this event?”
Answer - It will be like any other play session, just all adults. It will involve:
Adults dressed up like babies or in onesies (Fancy Dress)
Stories read to them with a cup of milk and cookies
Arts and Crafts – decorate a cup/bottle
A Pinata
Pass the parcel
Safe space for SEN/ND adults
Question - “This isn’t a sexual thing right? Because if it is, this is not the place and it’s a firm no.”
Answer - Absolutely not. Some people may see this is sexual, however this event is purely for those who want to regress, to BE little, to dress up or act like babies or children freely. There will nothing kinky, fetish based or sexual, no nudity, covered by strict rules. We will also bring anything we need and do a deep clean afterwards.
Question - “How will this be advertised?”
Answer - I will post it on my community page where I write and create a telegram group to be inclusive and clearly state this is a safe space and play arena to be respected by the rules.
From this and further discussions, we could not see this being an issue. Yes, we thought about what people would think about it but from the above description, there was nothing untoward about it. Who are we to judge and discriminate?
Due to the sensitivity of the event, we as the owners, spoke to a select number of staff about it to ask if they would be comfortable to work behind the café. They in turn had the exact same questions as above and were answered accordingly. The majority of staff, including the chefs, were not aware of the event taking place.
Any mistreatment of our staff related to this, inside or outside of the workplace will be taken seriously and escalated through the relevant authorities.
Once this had been clarified, there were then 3 provisional dates agreed at the time for the hirer to host this event. I want to clarify that the event was organised and run by the hirers.
On the day the event happened exactly as described. We checked in to ensure that it was just that. The staff who worked felt happy they had given people a non judgemental safe space to people to be who they want to be. Then, like at the end of all our working days, everything was cleaned, and sanitised. It was by no means a kink/fetish party like it is worded, it was a regressive play session.
After the first event we were made aware of the community’s link to fetish and kink groups. Although the event was not at all sexual, kinky or fetish based, we were very aware it could make customers feel uncomfortable, something that we never want to do. We spoke to the hirer who agreed that people could make those connections and gave them time to cancel, also allowing the administrative time involved in cancellations/refunds.
We were also not made aware of any wording used on the advert as this was a hire.
We would like to add that there are many soft play venues that offer adult-only nights and that have alcohol licenses and adults use their facilities weekly. There is not much difference between the two other than one is more socially accepted and the other is not.
We are aware that there have been comments about cleanliness after the event and we want to reassure our customers again that nothing untoward happened. The event itself was just like any other play session albeit adults, any suggestion otherwise is just not factual.
On a day to day basis, adults use our facilities and play in the play frame and sensory room with their children. At Wild Wonderland Lancing we pride ourselves on being a clean soft play centre and maintain high cleanliness standards.
We want to thank everyone who has supported us during this time and we hope that this has cleared up any assumptions, opinions or questions that have been formed in relation to the article or indeed any further recycled articles.
Kind Regards and sincerest apologies,
The Owners.